Find me the difference: Dream or Reality?
by Deathscythe-Wing
Summary: Heero was a ruthless tool of war...literally. But now, an obsessive infatuation with Duo has caused him to stray from his purpose, and his masters are panicking. As gravitation turns to chaos, the fabric of the world weakens...R&R, my first serious fic!
1. Dream or reality

Hey all!! I got back from precollege it was awesome! Just have to come through 2 more years of high school…. Now I have nothing to do as there is no more physics hw! REJOICE! Only I came to realize that there really isn't much to do. So I decided to continue this fanfic I started like a year ago….hehe I hope it comes out ok! PLEASE tell me if something is unclear or doesn't make sense, I greatly appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.  If you have a problem with sap or 1x2 or 3x4 or 5xM don't complain to me about that, it's not the point to rant about pairings, much rather, rant about whether or not the story makes logical sense or the characters are, well, in character. You know what I mean? Oh yes one more thing: I adore Washu!! Anyhow, enjoy!! Go bishonen!! ^___^

MAAIA

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, its plot or its characters, or its songs, or anything related to it except my own obsession. I do not own "Just Communication", the wonderful Gundam Wing theme song by Two-Mix (the first j-pop song I ever heard!). I also do not own "Sora", a beautiful song from the Escaflowne movie, of which I used two different translations that I found. I do not own the name "Wario", it is from Super Mario, but I decided to use the name for a character whom I do own. I also own Maaia. I do not own all the songs from which I took lines for my titles. They are: Just Communication from Gundam Wing, Resolution from Gundam X, Aoi Jiyuu, Shiroi Nozomi from Fushigi Yuugi, and Tamashii no Rufuran from Evangelion. I do not own all the countless things that have inspired parts of this story that are not mine (what a redundant statement). Let's see, the ones I can consciously think of now are Gundam Wing (obviously), 1x2, 3x4, 5xm (OK I'll stop you get the point), Evangelion ( I used a quote from it, "Love is destructive"), Lord of the Rings, a book called Where Does the Weirdness go?, which is about quantum mechanics (don't ask, long story), and…ummm…oh yes, Final Fantasy X, a childrens' book by William Sleator called The Boy who Reversed himself (it is very cool you should all read it), an awesome book called Hyperspace by Michio Kaku (it's seriously one of my favorite books!! READ IT, IT'S INGENIOUS!) and my twisted mind that put it all together in addition to some out-of-control obsession with a wonderful sci-fi anime…OK I am rambling. I am sorry for the injustice. GO WU FEI!! Ah yes, the acknowledgements. I would like to thank my wonderful friends Shannon who got me obsessed with 1x2 and Alejandra who gave me the wonderful idea of, well, I don't wanna ruin it for you but I will but a % right when I say it in the story so you will know. I would also like to thank Tolkien for writing LOTR, and I would like to thank everyone who inspired me, even if I don't mention them due to my terrible memory. I would like to thank whoever invented Japanese, because it is so beautiful. Thanks. 

Now, my good friend M-chan has this great habit of putting amusing little dialogues in front of the story, and I have decided to do the same. YAY! Enjoy!! 

Yui: Today I want to introduce to you the wonderful world of bishonen! Everyone, cheer!!

silence

Yui: ehrm. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BISHONEN!

Heero walks on stage, death glaring.

H: Tell me again why I'm here…

M-chan: Because we wuv you…

H: pulls out gun

Duo comes onstage and tackles Heero 

H: What're you doin, fool!

D: Just openly displaying my affection, dear…

Yui: STOP! DUO, you don't confess your feelings till LATER in the story. 

D: gets up sheepishly sorry.

C-chan: Yah, you should be!

DG: runs and hugs D I wuv you Duo…I'll always be your girl…

Yui: WAIT I have…other pairings in mind…nevermind, they're out of control…

Feifei comes

F: WHAT IS ALL THIS INJUSTICE!!

C-chan: MY CHAUVINISTIC LITTLE PRICK!!!! runs and tackles feifei

M-chan: where are 3 and 4?

quatre and Trowa walk onstage holding hands.

Yui: NO! You're not yet together either!! You're ruining the element of surprise!!!  
Q&T: NEVER MIND! start doin their thing   
Yui: OK I'd better start before this gets even more out of hand…

Washu: I think the attractors have already done their work.

Yui: Nah mine are stronger. You'll see… laughs evilly BWAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!

PROLOGUE: BIRTH OF MEILAN

Send her.

AC 185

In the slums of a run-down colony in the L5 cluster, it was raining drops of water that were not stimulating; they did not beat down upon real ground, creating a microcosm; the smell never evoked nostalgia, or any emotion at all. Against the bleak, light gray, artificial sky, blurred by steady drops of rain that were neither hard-pounding or soft, the mid-sized buildings, also gray, almost did not even form a silhouette. 

                Through one of these identical, littered streets wandered a small child, her black hair matted against her head and shoulders, constantly falling into her face. Her head bowed down, she walked with no purpose, but her demeanor signified no weakness. Her shoulders were slumped but her essence told of fervor. 

                THUMP. A young boy, about her age, fell to the ground as she dodged a sneak attack from behind. Instantly, the boy kicked at her from the ground, attempting to use the kick to jump back up. It did not last. With slight movement, she placed her foot on his chest and gazed at him with appearing indifference. His soaked, shoulder-length black hair was tied back, and his deep, black eyes stared back at her face. The girl released her foot, and the boy stood up, bowing to her. He turned away, and she followed him. He led her to a fighting dojo, in front of which a very old man stood. Both the boy and the girl bowed. 

                "So this is the one. What is your name?" he asked. The girl remained silent. 

                "What is your name?" he repeated. The girl remained mute. 

                "Very well. Your name is Meilan."

CHAPTER 1: BELIEVE IN LOVE THAT WILL CHANGE SADNESS TO STRENGTH 

Forgive, forgive! Merely playing, I have been only of good intention! Skip, skip, to the water, where I shall find thee! My friends, I will find thee, and thou will forgive, forgive me!

AC 202

"NINMU KANRYOU." Heero Yuy muttered as he turned from the mobile suit he had just blown up with a remote-controlled bomb. It was one of the last remaining suits in this underground facility. Then he turned to make sure. 

_Chigau.                                 [it's different]_

                Relieved to find everything as expected, Heero turned at last to ask for the next mission. As he resurfaced and wandered through the town, he never stopped looking around, expecting to find something, ever since the war ended.  

                "Oi Hee-chan!" 

Sharply turning, Heero gazed about, scanning the crowd. No familiar face. Shaking his head, he continued walking. Passing a display window of a toyshop, he noticed a picture of the grim reaper on the box of a _Build your own grim reaper_ toy kit. It included a beautiful, intricate scythe. Of course, the whole set was only about half a foot tall. Heero entered the shop and picked up the kit, immediately deciding that he needed it. He spent the last of the money he had earned form Preventers Special Unit to buy it. 

_I'll get paid again anyway when I go and report my next mission. _

                When he arrived at his apartment, the first thing Heero did was open the kit. Leaving the grim reaper in the box, Heero took out the scythe and examined it. It was metallic, about five inches long and had a sharp point. 

_And this is what they sell to kids? It must be an old shop. _

                Technically, companies were not allowed to manufacture more weapons of any kind. That included Halloween decorations. 

_Hehe, lucky for me and too bad for them. _

Heero exited the living room, readjusting an already precise-appearing photo on the wall to make the side exactly parallel with the wall. In the kitchen, to his dismay, he found that one of the chairs at the table was not pushed in. 

How could I not have noticed that when I left… 

As he climbed the stairs, he brushed imaginary dust off the wall. Finally, he reached the bedroom. 

Placing the scythe on his nightstand, Heero dropped onto his bed. It had been a tiring day. Something was wrong. There was a bump that had not been there before…—

                "AAAAAHH!!" Someone pushed him hard from underneath and caused him to tumble off the bed. 

                "Shit, what the hell—" Heero turned to punch the unknown bed-hogger, but before he could fully prepare the would-be fully accurate blow to the face, a very familiar figure was already smothering him. 

                "Hee-chan!! You have any idea how long you took to get back? I mean, I go to all this trouble to come here to earth, and then to actually find out where you are—you hide well, you know, but not well enough to escape me—and then you aren't even home! I already ate, I even cleaned up afterwards, and I was tired from the trip, so I decided to get some rest, but guess what? I get violently woken up by the Perfect Soldier falling on me! Sound like a nice day huh— oh _man, I'm hungry! " Duo said all this in one breath, and Heero had trouble keeping up with all the words. He was still drawing a blank and he was still being suffocated by Duo's long embrace/attack. Then he wrestled himself free of the fierce grip and glared at Duo. _

                "You…" 

Duo glanced back surreptitiously. 

                "Yeeees?" 

Exasperatedly, Heero hit Duo over the head. 

                "ALL RIGHT, PILLOW FIGHT!!!!" Duo screamed, cackling. He grabbed the pillow from Heero's bed and slammed it on Heero's head as hard as he could. 

                "How the hell did you get pillow fight from…" 

But Duo had already tackled him. He continued to pummel the Perfect Soldier, who was in futility attempting to wrench the pillow away. Then suddenly, Duo stopped. 

                "Hey, Hee-chan, feel like having some chocolate?" 

Heero stopped dead. 

                "Weren't we just…"

Duo impatiently gestured, already standing in the doorway. 

                "Duo, since when is my name Hee-chan?" 

                "Since I decided it was." 

                "Why?" 

                "Because that's who you are, Hee-chan!" 

                "Why don't you ever answer a question precisely how it was meant to be answered?" 

Duo was not even listening, not having, as Heero was thinking, a true appreciation for exactitude. He was already heading for the kitchen. 

Heero followed Duo into the kitchen. Duo had already opened a pack of chocolate and eaten half of it. The wrapper lay wrinkled on the otherwise spotless kitchen floor. 

"Here, want some?" Duo reached out the other half of the bar to Heero. He accepted. Staring out the window in silence, he ate. It was already dark, obviously, as it was 10:30 pm, as he noted, looking at the clock on the wall. It was raining. It was raining rather intensely; the roar that the many drops made on the roof suddenly became loud when Heero noticed it. He blinked to erase a ringing in his ears that always appeared at singular moments such as this. There was a distant rumbling in the air, and seconds after, a silent flash of lightning followed. Even before he was done, Duo was already standing in the doorway. 

                "Hey Hee-Chan, let's go _outside_!" 

                "In the _rain?_" 

Come to think of it, Heero did feel a strange desire to be in the rain. 

                As they exited the apartment, which was on the top floor of the complex, Heero heard the neighboring inhabitants' stereo, which was turned up very loudly. It was, obviously, since the apartment was located in a suburb of Tokyo, a Japanese song. 

                "Hey Hee-chan, it's Just Communication! Cool!" Duo cried wholeheartedly. "Let's listen!" 

                "_You listen to j-pop, Duo?" Heero asked, an eyebrow raised. _

                "Of _course!_ This song… it gives me a feeling… it reminds me of… I don't know. It reminds me of the war. But somehow it makes me happy. And I know you secretly adore it too…" 

                "And why would you say that?"  
                "Because I can see it in your eyes plain as day, buddy." 

Heero rolled his eyes. But for the sake of avoiding a large quarrel, he said nothing. And so they stopped to listen to the song.

_Just wild beat communication…_

When it was done, they took the stairs out into the rain. Duo excitedly ran out onto the street. Heero, however, the second he stepped into the rain, the sound in his ears resumed, and it only disappeared when Duo came running back and tugging him along the street. 

                "You sure are slow today, Hee-chan…come on, I will enliven you!" 

                "_Enliven?" _

"Yep! Let's go." 

As a bright bolt of lightning struck almost instantly after a burst of thunder, all the streetlights went out. Something about that seemed wrong to Heero. It was nagging at his mind-- The surroundings were pitch-black, since most everyone was asleep. But the beating of rain became all the more apparent. 

_Ame ni utare-nagara… _

Duo's laughing echoed through the street and into Heero's mind. 

                "It's all dark now, Hee-chan! Where are you?" 

                "Here." 

…it's the lightning. It shouldn't be after thunder. It must have been another time…

                "Where? I can't find you!" Duo was arbitrarily stumbling about on the street. 

_Iroasenai atsui omoi karadajuu de tsutaetai yo tonight! _

The Thunder crashed louder, formulating Duo's voice almost inaudible. The Rain became even more insistent. But when the inevitable Lightning illuminated the world for an instant, Duo spotted the one whom he was seeking. He ran to him as quickly as he could and grabbed Heero from behind. 

…another bolt of thunder… 

                "Found you." 

Nureta sono kata o atatameru you ni daita… 

The warmth that Heero felt all of a sudden was surprising, but he acclimatized it after that instant. But then Duo let go and ran ahead again. 

                "Come on! If we're gonna get somewhere, we better hurry!" 

…but where was it?

"Where do you plan to go?" Heero's voice echoed now, in his own mind, drowning out the memory of Duo's question. Drowning, like the rain and the thunder, and the lightning burns the water…and the rain…

_…I didn't hear it…it passed me by, perhaps it is hiding…_

"Hee-chan, why aren't you coming?" Duo's voice broke through the rain's veil. Heero finally moved forward and searched for Duo. 

"Where are you, Duo?" Heero knew he was close by, but he could not discern where. 

Furuete'ru yubisaki wa nani o motomete samayou no? 

Heero felt around him, and when his hand hit Duo's arm, he gripped it tightly. 

                "Duo, let's go back." 

                "Why, we haven't even gotten anywhere yet." 

_…hiding where?~_

                "I feel…Duo, I—" 

And then Heero collapsed. It was almost as if the raindrops had pounded him down. 

                "Heero! What happened?!" Frantically, Duo reached around to search where Heero had gone. He had fallen to the ground. Panting, Duo felt for him, and found him. He picked up his body and arduously carried it through the rain into the apartment. Heero felt light, too light in fact for someone as muscular as he. And he felt cool. When Duo laid him on his bed, the concern that had built up reached a climax. 

                "Heero! Can you hear me?" 

                "Yeah…" Heero replied weakly. 

Togire togirete mo tsutaete hoshii itami o… 

In the dry finally, Heero took a deep breath that he could not have thought to take outside. Instantly he felt his senses slightly reviving. 

                "Duo, I… what happened there… you…" his mind hazed over again, but in a different way this time. He did not know anymore what was real. Duo bent over Heero and placed his hands on the bed at the weak boy's sides. 

CRASH. The thunder still went on. 

                "What? What happened?" 

                "I dunno… When you… you stole away everything' significance…what, how…sugoi…"

Sameta furisuru koto de otona ni nante narenai… 

Heero's weakness finally took over and he passed out once again, this time into deep sleep. Duo bent over farther.

                Then he laid down on the ground and slept also, oddly fatigued from the strangeness of the incident. In a half-dream, Heero perceived Duo, wondering silently.

…let it hide.

Anata no manazashi mamoritai… 

_Kanashimi tsuyosa ni kaeru ai o shinjite! _

The sinister figure in the black, hooded cape paced impatiently, his icy, nail blue eyes fiercely surveying his surroundings of the cramped, stuffy, humid room lit by nothing save the moon shining through a tiny, open window. Furnishing was absent; the room was bare. The floor was made of gray, smooth stone and the door was barred and locked from the outside. He sat down, shifted into various positions, never making a sound. He threw back his hood to reveal silvery, long, gorgeous hair only to replace it, filled with confusion, shame and self-loathing. Then he once again stood up and gazed out of the window unto the beautiful, starlit sky as he was filled with an immense anxiety and longing. He desperately yearned to fly there, to run amongst the stars, as in a childlike fantasy of soaring through outer space. However it seemed not in the least bit childish to him and in a thunderous roar filled with his utmost passion and agony, the man freed his true, trapped emotions, and they escaped out the window into the silver, misty, moonlit night.__

_The insanely familiar girl, she would not face him. He knew her, that he wanted her. She began striding away from him into dense mists. He wanted to cry out to her. This place knew no sound. She stopped. And turned. She held out her hand, an affectionate smile on her face. He ran to her, but he fell into infinite water. Then she skipped away, her feet making beautiful ripples on the surface of the water, waves that undulated and interfered with each other, creating a shimmering,  complex pattern. _

Wu Fei Chang awoke sweating. He sat up, opened his window, gazed at the great firmament and its twinkling stars and shining moon, and jumped out. He landed swiftly, gracefully, and ran, driven by the suppressed infatuation that he released finally. He ran into the large forest, he ran through, and he arrived at the great lake where he had said farewell to his dream. The mists lay heavy over the water. There was a layer of blue luminescence that shone through the fog. But Wu Fei did not quietly sit on a rock, contemplating, as he had so many nights before. Instead, he dove into the dark pool, his clothing but a mere nuisance that slowed his swimming. It forced him to use more strength, and as he swam passionately upstream the anxiety of his dream fell away, replaced by the purpose of reaching the source of the river.

                STORM.

_It's time. We have begun._

_How is he proceeding?_

_There seems to be a distraction._

_Fatal?_

_Considerable damage has been done._

_Try once more._


	2. The fading real was continuing to search

Hello again! I hope you all enjoyed chappie 1… just let me tell you it gets better!! …poor Hee-chan... MUAHAHAAHAAA! Ok if you want to know what that was all about read on! Yay!

Yui: All right now, today I would like to think a little bit about Heero's pants. Seriously. I mean, how in the world do all his guns fit in there?! Heero? Would you like to answer that question?

H: Do I HAVE to? 

Yui: Yes.

H: All RIGHT, since I KNOW you're the powerful author who controls my destiny in the story…

Yui: You are very wise. 

H: I put it into Spandex Space.

Y: …

H: sighs FINE. It's a large space within my spandex.

Y: Why is your butt so tight then?

D: Coz he's damn HOT!

Y: You're confusing cause and effect, DUO. 

D: ah who needs causality anyway. 

H: ACTUALLY its because my laptop can hack into hyperspace. All I have to do is follow its signals into the future and place my gun at the precise moment at the back of my spandex when it tells me I need it. 

D: So THAT is Daisy's true purpose!

Y: SSSH!!! SOME PEOPLE HAVE STILL TO FIND OUT WHO DAISY IS!!

H: blushes

Y: Anyhow, before too much is revealed we better get on with the actual story…

Washu: WAIT! This is fascinating! So spandex space is really the future? OOH I understand you folded the future into your own pants!!

Q: That sounded…risqué. 

Y: NEVER MIND!! smiles brightly trying to cover up the insane characters behind her enjoy the story ^__^

CHAPTER 2: THE FADING REAL WAS CONTINUING TO SEARCH

_Trust, trust me forever! _

"Hee-chan, check this out!" Duo cried hyperactively. "I WON!!" Performing an interpretive jig while cheering for himself, the God of Death pointed at the TV screen with agitated gestures. "GO DUO! GO DUO! AHAAHAHAAAA!!!" Heero was sitting on the couch typing something on his laptop. It was supposed to be a report on the last mission, but all that appeared on the screen was disconnected words in various languages, most of all Japanese. Duo's intensity engaged Heero, but he tried not to show it. 

He differs from everyone else. He is…Duo. No one is alike to him. He alone is a release from the world's sameness. But…

He is a guy. More precisely, he is Duo Maxwell. However, that is insignificant. 

This is illogical. A person's identity is the aspect of the persona that affects the world and is thereby significant. At the same time, I know that it would have no effect whatsoever on the situation if he were female or were his name Beatrice. This paradox is only resolved when… when…

Heero threw his hands into the air at loss of argument.

Now breaking into insane laughter, Duo pounced on his stoic companion, who had not looked up from his laptop. In that instant, however, his nerves were aroused and he jumped up three feet into the air. 

                "Duo. What the hell are you doing. You could have broken that." Heero stated monotonously. The jump into the air apparently had not fazed him enough to alter the pitch of his voice. In sharp contrast, Duo Maxwell went on in a singsong voice. 

                "Hee-chan, wake up! Can't even Death wake you up? HEE-CHAN! Heero..." Shaking his head, Duo racked his brain for a way to catch 01's pilot's attention. Then, his face became a gloomy mask of terror. 

                "Pilot of Zero One. I have a new mission," he stated in a voice whose monotony could rival Heero's. Still, Heero did not respond. The clicks of his keyboard just kept going. Duo grumbled. "Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." Sighing, he turned around. He folded his arms and tapped his feet and incredibly inconspicuously began whistling Kitto OK. After five seconds he whipped around and quickly as lightning removed the laptop from Heero's lap, and just as quickly replaced it with himself. Finally, Heero looked up. His glare communicated death to the hijacker of his darling computer. Duo's grin countered the glare with an irresistible invitation to break into foolish laughter. Heero's face distorted as he tried his hardest not to laugh. He thought about war, zero, Dr. J, his missions, and guns, anything he could think of, to stop the hilarity. Smirking inside, Heero muttered in his mind, 

_I know what will keep the laughter away._

He pictured the image of Relena Peacecraft, smiling that fake smile, following him histrionically into all the hideouts he escaped to, preaching her hypocritical, self-deceptive messages. Her amazing acting skill, or persuasive skill, whatever it was that won over all the people. Heero's glare turned into a frown as he attempted to bury himself in unhappy memories. Then Duo stuck out his tongue and distorted his own face in a way that Heero had never thought possible. That did it. The strangeness of the expression caused Heero to burst into extreme laughter, taking Duo with him. Laughing like maniacs, they leaped around the room. After a long while of this entertainment, they collapsed onto the ground. 

                "Fuck you Duo," Heero muttered. 

                "Read between the lines," Duo replied, holding up his index, middle, and ring finger at the same time. 

                "Baka." 

                "Hey. Cheapass, I dunno Japanese."

                "You know baka."

                "Sure I do. Omae o...omae o...damnnn what was that word?"

                "Kisu." Heero grinned smugly. 

                "Ah yes. Omae o kisu."

                "Shut up, Duo." 

Heero turned around. 

_What am I doing? Nothing. I am merely entertaining myself.  _

He shook his head. 

_One moment I laugh off the notion of loving him. Then next, I am…attempting to obtain his attention.  That is what I was doing, was it not?  Whenever I am with him I become carried away, and whenever he's not there I rationalize against love. How can I know what is true? Is any truth real? What is real? Who cares?_

"Trowa!!" the blonde boy exclaimed joyfully as his face transformed from a mask of indifference into an expression of ecstasy, the morning rays of the sun accentuating his sweet features. He jumped up from the worn-out seat and desk covered in papers and books and ran to hug his best friend. Trowa smiled gladly and returned the embrace and said, 

"I am so happy to see you again. How have you been?" Quatre pulled away to look at Trowa with shining eyes and a huge grin. 

"Very lonely," he answered. Trowa laughed. 

"You are surrounded with government officials. I am sure they would be glad to have tea and chat." Quatre joined in the laugh.

 "It's amazing how you have solutions to all my problems," he told him as he touched his shoulder softly. Trowa smiled.

 "The circus troupe is stopping by here for a few days so I decided to visit." 

"Well, I am working on some _very important_ government issues concerning--oh, I don't know, but I was wondering if the circus director needs a desert act?" Quatre burst out in a giddy tone.

 "I haven't asked him, but why--" then Trowa laughed energetically. 

"Yes we definitely need one. It's absolutely necessary." Then they both laughed and abandoned all thoughts of work. The day passed, then the night, and they were still together the next day. 

Quatre laughed as Trowa tried to calm down the lion. It was roaring uproariously at something in the distance that neither of the boys could yet discern. 

"It's all right, girl. I'm here. Nothing to worry about." Trowa patted the lion on its head. "I think someone's coming. And Zelda here doesn't seem to like that person," he then told Quatre. Trowa was not mistaken. A figure appeared on the horizon. Actually, it was a car. It was very large, and it was yellow. It approached quickly and stopped in front of the circus gate. A woman with long, blonde hair, large double-eyebrows and an arrogant smile exited from the driver's side. From the passenger's side emerged an extremely tall Arabic man. Quatre's eyes widened and tears appeared in them. 

"Dorothy! Rashid! Everyone's coming! This makes me so happy!" 

The blonde boy ran and hugged each of them. Then a cry came from inside the car. Dorothy turned and helped a two-year-old girl out of the car. 

"This is my daughter Wario," Dorothy proudly stated. Rashid placed a hand on her shoulder. Wario giggled happily. She pulled Quatre's ears and squeaked delightedly. 

"Waiwai!" 

"She is so adorable!" Quatre gushed. He grinned at Wario and tickled her. Wario laughed in a high-pitched tone. Trowa stood by and smiled. 

"I think she likes you," Rashid told Quatre. Quatre was too busy to notice. He also did not see the tears in Dorothy's eyes and the sad half-smile on her face.__

Sally Po entered Wu Fei's small room. It was sparsely furnished; there was a bed and a shelf, with not much variety of clothing on it. The only luxury seemed to be the ancient katana that was hanging on the wall above his bed. It was noon, and she was worried, since Wu Fei usually did not sleep that long, even on weekends. She gazed at his figure, sprawled on the white sheets. They were soaked, as were his clothes and hair. His hair-tie had come out and his black hair was spread out on the pillow. His face was white and his breath even, and the beams of sun raced through the window onto his face.  His eyes fluttered open the instant that the door opened. Instinctively his arm came up in a defensive stance. Then he was standing in front of Sally, prepared for any reaction. Sally laughed and raised her hands in defense. 

"Hey, it's only me. Love you too." 

Wu Fei slowly lowered his arms and relaxed. He nodded to Sally. 

"What is it? A new mission?" 

"No."

Wu Fei raised his eyebrows and looked at her questioningly. 

"I only came to see you. Do I need an excuse for that?" Sally asked. 

"You don't need an excuse for anything, excuses are weak," Wu Fei remarked. Sally smiled. Then her expression turned serious. 

"What happened last night? You are drenched." 

Wu Fei gazed at her evenly. 

"I was out." 

Sally stared back persistently. Like that, they stood facing each other for ten minutes. Then one of Sally's assistants stuck her head in the door. Confusedly, she looked from Sally to Wu Fei and back as they were unblinkingly, silently, fighting a battle that only they understood. The assistant shook her head and exited. _Sometimes I think she takes her psychological experiments a little too far…_

Then she went on filing her documents. The day passed. Nobody exited Wu Fei's room. Wu Fei was not about to lose a staring contest to a woman, or anyone for that matter. Instead, he let his thoughts drift. His mind wandered to the katana that hung on the wall. 

It's the one she used…Nataku. 

_                After only two months in the dojo, Meilan had acquired a control of her powers that rivaled that of the masters. She would disappear for entire days, sometimes weeks at a time. And she always reappeared unharmed. Nobody knew where she went. Nobody ever asked. Nobody ever questioned, as she was the strongest. The fighters held her in respect. The same could not be said of the scholars. One of them in particular. _

_                'Where do you go?' the young boy with black hair and narrow, black eyes behind large glasses demanded. _

_                'Wherever I want.' Meilan gazed at him evenly. _

_                'Where do you want to go?' he continued. _

_                'Anywhere on earth.'_

_                'How?'_

_                'I am finding out.'_

_Wu fei was now skeptical. It sounded like a little girl's dream. _

_                'I am talking to the trees.'_

_Wu fei laughed demeaningly. _

_                'All right, little girl. But when do you train?'_

_Meilan turned around and gazed into the horizon where the scenery turned blurry. _

_                'While I talk to them. They tell me how to fight. With this sword.'_

_She held up an ancient katana. Wu fei gasped. _

_                'It's the katana of the elder! It is a sacred heirloom! You cannot take this!_

_'Why?'_

_'Did he give it to you?_

_'Yes.'_

_'Why?'_

_'He wanted to.'_

After Sally felt that ten hours had passed, she forced her gaze to the ground in surrender. "You have not changed," she told Wu Fei, who had not moved since the morning. Finally, she turned and left his room.__

The woman clad in black checked her gun, satisfied that it was loaded. She placed extra ammo in a bag that she slung over her back. Then she locked the door to her home, unlocked her car, sat in the seat, slammed the door shut, and drove off full throttle. It was the middle of the night, and the stars were bright, so she did not need her headlights. She drove through the small town into the woods, along a narrow, hidden street that was unheard of and not named. 

After a few hours of driving a carefully planned course that sometimes even led off the street, she arrived at a clearing. The trees surrounded it, and there was a large hill in the middle on which stood a heavily guarded fortress. The guards patrolled all the way around it, walking always in sight of another guard. This was where the most dangerous prisoners were held. These were people who were a serious threat to the peace of the world. These were people who lived not by the laws of the government or by civility; they had lived by some twisted commandment born by the shadows of their own souls. And one of these people, one of these unspeakable criminals; one of them was a man whom the woman could not do without. Her heart yearning since he had been found crushed under the remains of his own experimental weapon, barely alive, by the authorities, she made her way stealthily toward the fortress. 

The blood that flowed out of his open wounds on his arms and legs was red. The sky on that sunset,burning red. The lights on the police cars, flashing red. The sound of the sirens, red. The flames that could have been, red. STOP WITH THIS DAMN POETRY!!!!

She set a remote-controlled explosive at the foot of the hill behind a rock that was large enough to temporarily hide her but small enough to reveal an explosion of that caliber. Then she stole off into the forest and snuck to the other side of the clearing. She pressed the button on the remote. There was the sound of a small explosion on the other side of the hill. As she had expected, the guards flooded to that location, overly trained but never challenged and thus cocky. The woman ran up the hill, suppressing her rapid breath, the trembling of her hands controlled as she entered the password that she had obtained by extensive hacking and betrayal. 

 _JWBC1524IJFRE3._

 Then she entered. She saw the plan of the dungeon in her mind, and she visualized the cell that her beloved Zechs was being held in. There was a creaking sound. The woman whirled around, gun at hand. She faced a very tall man in a guard uniform.   
"Move and I shoot," he barked. 

Duo never left, and neither was he asked to stay, but through an unstated, mutual understanding, he and Heero realized that they would not get rid of each other for a while. As a result of this arrangement, neither of the pilots went to bed before morning, since Duo had habits of dragging Heero along on arbitrary, self-set "missions" such as walking around in the rain. It had not rained since the night before, however, and Duo was up for a moon-walk. 

                "Hey, Heero…" Duo prolonged the name and pronounced it with a distinct sound that nobody else could imitate. And it never had failed to grab Heero's attention. Though he was immersed in the fascinating world of his laptop, he blinked when Duo called him.   
                "Is that all I can get from you?" Duo had noticed even the blink. "I think you should name your laptop, you two are practically lovers!" he whined. This time, Heero ignored him. 

                "All right, it is called Daisy. It's settled. Now while you and Daisy thoroughly enjoy yourselves, I will go out and entertain MYSELF with the wind." For this, Duo almost earned a strange look. Almost. Heero's eyebrows arched as he continued typing. 

                "Itte kimasu." In a last attempt to grasp Heero's attention, he spoke this phrase in Japanese. He had learned it from Heero because he always said it when he went out, if he bothered to say anything. 

                "Itte rasshai," Heero replied absent-mindedly. Duo grinned. The Perfect Soldier had spoken! Looking immensely pleased with himself, he exited. The door opened again, and Duo stuck his head inside. 

"You're insane!" he called. Then he turned and ran outside.

Heero could hear the door to the staircase of the complex slam, and then all was quiet. The room seemed darker, somehow. The light of the laptop was all. Of course, since Duo had switched off the lights before he went out. He had always seemed to Heero like an environmentalist. Almost as bad as that Winner boy… 

                Heero tried to refocus on the report he had been writing all day long. It took him longer than usual to write; for some reason he repeatedly found himself unable to concentrate. Everything was a distraction. Especially Duo. His incessant chatter had never bothered him before, really; he had only pretended that it did. But today every word that left the braided pilot's mouth echoed back and forth in his head, and his computer lost its usual elusive appeal and turned into an empty box. And Heero didn't even miss it. 

Crash.

There were small explosions of thunder outside. And the rain began pounding on the roof. A glaring, sharp bolt of lightning struck the sky and illuminated the world. 

At first Heero did not think much of it. It was only a distant, lateral matter, the last thing on his mind. 

What has that baka been doing for all these years? He was never a Preventer, and I never heard from him. 

Heero leaned back in the couch. For some reason, the room seemed hot and cramped now, an instant transformation. 

                He'll be fine out there; he can take care of himself. 

But the room closed in much tighter now, and the heat turned into a sweaty, metallic cold. Heero could taste it. 

                Not always.  When he was captured by OZ… They would have killed him. Those pathetic excuses for weapons that OZ had were nothing compared to my buster rifle or his scythe, but neither of us had the possibility of using weapons. I need to stop disregarding time! OZ had full use of their weapons; we gundam pilots did not, and Duo would have died. On his own, he had no possibilities. 

_But then, we escaped because of my ability to infiltrate. _

_There is no OZ now, baka! Why am I driving myself crazy?_

Heero felt dizzy. There just did not seem to be enough oxygen in this damn room. 

Japan is not supposed to be a fucking oven!! Well apparently it is. At least my apartment is. Or maybe it's Tokyo. In any case, whoever controls the fucking temperature… is out to kill me… 

Heero's eyelids were heavy with the humidity and he struggled to keep them open. 

Like that night—when was that anyway—when the rain beat me… I know it… I'm losing it… and it all started when that baka came along. No it has always been there, but the baka released it, defined it…CLEAR YOUR MIND! 

                The strange sensations that restrict my capabilities of concentration began occurring when I became aware of their possibility. Earlier, there had always existed the likelihood of my losing my mind, as opposed to in the war, where there was simply no room for such thoughts. But now that I focus on it… the possibility takes on a shape and …does that mean that I control the world? My consciousness…determines the outcome of possibilities? What am I thinking…

As soon as I began thinking I was insane… it has become more than one of many possibilities. I got stuck on the idea, and everything around me—Duo, my reactions, the damn temperature even!—implied that it was indeed true. Thus the simple act of having a thought makes the previously inconceived possibility real?--All the symptoms appeared after I considered it… I made it real by looking at it… It simply was not real before… do I control reality? 

Darkness engulfed Heero as his eyes fell shut, and he was breathing heavily. His dark hair was matted to his forehead, and he brushed it back. 

It shouldn't be so hot… why can't I control the damned heat?…at least my perception of it… the actual thing…the actual heat, it's not changed by me…but I could make myself believe that it's not hot… it could go either way, ne… either it's hot or cold… my looking at it or feeling it for the first time determines how I will perceive it…after that, I can't make myself fully believe that the other way is true, because deep down I will believe my initial reaction, as long as the temperature remains constant. I can't make it cold anymore… I have already seen it as hot…but if I changed the temperature I could change my perception… if I could start anew, I could shape everything at my will…the only problem is that the perception happens so fast that I can't possibly consciously control it…if I destroyed everything… then everything would arrange itself in a way that is unconsciously perfect… unless I'm unconsciously wrong…

                The instant that I perceive something, all the possibilities of what it could have been disappear somewhere… but that instant still has the possibilities; they exist until the instant is gone. Where did it go? Those instances, they all exist and they do not, because they are disappearing, but they do not have time to disappear because exactly the next moment they have to be gone…that communal, instantaneous… instant between infinities must be the present. But that moment, that moment of collapse in between the existence of the possibilities and their absence…the moment they are perceived—are they?--… does it really exist?

Heero's mind was becoming fuzzy and it became increasingly difficult to focus on a train of thought, and the systematic, clear thinking of the perfect soldier clouded over. He turned around, so he was lying face down on the couch, slowly sliding off. The moon was becoming weaker as the clouds covered it and the drops of Rain became apparent, followed by subtle Thunder and ephemeral Lightning. 

…I will do that, make my own present…when I destroy, the new world… it will become perfect…it won't be so damn hot… 

Heero's body hit the ground with a thump. Then he staggeringly arose, chest heaving, and made his way to the door; the room seemed under his control now that he stood. He stalked as if in a trance, all the way to the Preventers lab that was not far, the occasional Lightning forming sharp patterns on his skin. As he exited with a research mobile suit that had not yet been destroyed, Heero's loud, insane laughter reverberated through his own mind. 

…Rain! It's so fast and so am I, and I will be as fast as my present, and I will remake you!!!

The Thunder beat in time to his rapid heart, and the Lightning flashed each time he blinked, and the Rain was a constant reminder of reality that Heero never regarded but rather used as a medium for hypnosis. 

…down, down, down…as I rise up! It is not you falling; it is me rising! 

As he advanced toward Tokyo, he stepped on cars, the ripping sound of destruction echoing along with his laughter; the crumbling of buildings added to his fascination. The terrified screams of the people running from their ruined homes and grieving for loved ones who had fallen victim to Heero's ravaging onslaught contradicted his feat, but he never considered them, being too profoundly intent on Tokyo. 

…I hate this heat, and I hate this confine, and I hate all the restraints of the world, and I hate everything that separates me from what I want!!!! 

Ravaging the city, flames dominating the helplessly weak citizens, red. NO~!

…I want to be one! One with the present!!!!! 

The crunches of further cars temporarily compensated for the driving force to destroy, but after a few seconds there was the need to destroy more. Heero laughed the whole way, controlling the fates of so many.  

…you are all part of my present…my perfect present…'He is the perfect soldier.'… 'Heero! I want to be strong like you!!'… 'He's quite the guy.'…'The soul of outer space…'…'Would Heero Yuy want us interfering with his humanity?' His humanity! My humanity, my present! 

Until he saw a lone, dark figure running resolutely along the road, through the fire, incredulously screaming his name. He was coming to him. Heero was not controlling him. He could not control him.

Dark, dark, falling, empty.

I was not able to use my weapon. He has my humanity…and my present. 

_  
  
_

_In the darkness the dragon wakes._

Wu Fei glanced at the clock that hung on the otherwise bare wall. It was ten in the evening. It did not matter. He felt a slight nagging in his stomach; he had not eaten since the previous day. It did not matter. What mattered? Wu Fei once again opened his window and jumped. Once again, he ran.

_The dragon awakens. To a heart that is numbed with cold the dragon takes._

 The harsh streaks of wind beat against his face, as if intending to fight. Wu Fei did not fight; he welcomed the blows, relished the sharp stabs of cold. They were powerless. They could never hold him back. After reaching the magical, secret place and mastering the river, Wu Fei stepped into uncharted territory. 

_With you at my side the dragon sleeps._

Everything around him was still blurry, up to his perception, for the first instant. The air was thick and hot, wet and tense. It carried a vibrant scent of summer. All traces of the sharp, cold bursts of wind had vanished. 

_On dragon wing your wishes will leap. Lalalalalalalalalala….._

Wu Fei felt so light, and he jumped up, and found that he was capable of reaching the clouds. His body that he left behind lay redundant and forgotten. As he raced through a tropical, dynamic, eventual forest of crystal trees, he was no longer Wu Fei. He was the forest and the trees and all the life, and he carried no memory but the immediate moment. Then the center of the forest emerged; one tree stump held up all the rest of the trees. The other trees were growing out of it, spreading to create this forest. He then reverently placed his hands on the stump and bowed his head, embracing the memories that were projected to his mind. 

_Your wishes can bring forth a destructive future.___

_It is a network of colors; a river of red joins a river of blue, creating a river of purple, only to join another river and then another, until they can all be one and complete as black. _

_Lalalalalalalala….._

His own face. He recognizes himself; the black hair, the slanted, black eyes, and the sharp features of his face. He is running through a labyrinth of thoughts. They are his own, and he knows where to go. Then he collides with a wall he has never seen before. It is not his own. Frantically, he runs back to find another way out. At every exit, there is a new wall. Head on he rams into one of the new walls. Breaking through, he enters the labyrinth of the thoughts of someone else. Seeing them, they become part of his own. 

Or you can bring salvation.

Then image of a two-headed dragon. The labyrinth becomes fog that lifts. The dragon in front of him is dancing to a beat Wu Fei cannot hear. He attempts to ride it, but as his understanding is in lack, again and again he is thrown off. He never stops. Then, a beautiful voice, a suppressed reminiscence. 

_You were the first dragon_

_My beloved_

_I've been watching you _

_From the fairy stump_

_Because you flew away_

_The sky is unseen to me_

_How beautifully did the water_

_Touch those lips_

_How you shone_

_At the spearhead of battle. _

Nataku is with him. She smiles sweetly and then laughs.

"Will you now accept me as your wife?"

In the darkness the dragon wakes.

Wu Fei solemnly nods and grasps her hand. She pulls him away to fly through the clouds. He has never truly flown before, he realizes. All those times, he does not remember what it was, he has been in the air before, were only standing, now he is soaring-- When the thick cloud layer is penetrated, they emerge to space. Here we will remain for eternity. Space is infinite. But no--Nataku pulls him farther. There is no wind in outer space and yet her black hair flows beautifully behind her.

_The dragon awakens._

Space turns white and the stars black. Nataku releases him. Can you fly too? In a lighthearted beam she vanishes. For the single instant of doubt, Wu Fei pays. 

_To a heart that is numbed with cold the dragon takes._

He falls, falls back to earth, leaving behind Nataku, who has been present all along. His ability to fly seems forever taken. One last remnant of her challenge fades: Find me. 

                EARTH.

She is giving us trouble.

Why?

There is a hook in Triterria.

Find it.

Chappie 2: COMPLETE. How d'you like it so far? Please review! And now you know who Daisy is! Rejoice! Anyway, on to chappie 3!


	3. Please come home to me, following memori...

Yui: WELCOME TO CHAPPIE 3!!! Now you can enjoy watching chaos come over the world of the pilots~!!

M-chan: Why do you enjoy making the characters suffer?

Y: ME? Oh, hehe, yeah. Because it's fun. And they're hot. And chaos is fascinating.

Q: That's so cruel!!

C-chan: BWAAHAAHAHAHAAAAA!!!! CRAZY BISHI-FANS GALORE!! OH FEIFEI, WHERE AAAARE YOU!?!

F: AAAAAH!!!! runs but C-chan tackles him and he can't escape

H: Hopefully they leave my pants alone this time…

D: Oh, don't be so sure…winks

Washu: oooh what is THIS? looks intently at Heero's butt

H: AAAAH ! I'm being harassed!!!

D: Leave him! He's MINE!!

W: Don't flatter yourself soldier boy all I'm interested in is your pants. 

spandex start glowing, everyone jumps, Heero smirked

H: Thanks, Daisy. winks

Q: May I remind you that all of this has very dirty implications?

H: Yeah but in reality it's all clean.

W: YEAH! It's all just science!

Q: Ah~

Yui: Before all this gets out of hand—

D: Why do you always DO that?

Trowa: because she has nothing to say. 

Y: HEY! I do TOO! I'm the one telling the story here!

DG: Are you SURE it's not one of the voices in your head?

Y: Yeah those usually only come when I'm dreaming.

DG: And you're aware that it's 12:50 at night?

Y: Yes…

DG: And that all this may well be a dream?

Washu: FIND ME THE DIFFERENCE: DREAM OR REALITY?

****

****

**CHAPTER THREE: PLEASE COME HOME TO ME, FOLLOWING MEMORIES**

****

Where are you going, where?! Why are you running away from me? See my tears; they are shed for you, my love, my self! You are repelled from each other—from me, from me! Don't you feel me—feel my tears! **Feel my tears!**

                A tall, burly guard stood above Noin, who had fallen to the ground. He shone a flashlight into her eyes, blinding her; all she could discern was the man's bulky silhouette. The silhouette and the hand holding the gun. Pointed right at her face. The cold, stone floor below her trapped her, there was nowhere she could run. 

                "Do you have authorization to be here?" he bellowed. His voice was loud but raspy. Noin put her arm above her eyes in an attempt to block the glaring beam of white light. 

                "Don't move and answer my question." 

Noin remained silent and motionless. No use trying to escape a gun so close. 

                "Thought so." The man, although Noin could not see, sounded like he was smirking. He kicked her hard in the side. Then he harshly grabbed her right arm and hauled her up into a standing position. He was not as tall as Noin had thought; he was only about her height. The guard stepped behind her and grasped both of her arms, tying them together behind her at the wrists tightly using a roughly textured rope. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, and involuntarily, she shivered. Still behind her, the guard pushed her forward. Noin remained in her initial standing position. Then she heard the clicking of a gun and felt the metal pressed to her temple. Complying, she followed the guard's directions and began walking through what seemed like an endless maze of stone hallways. 

                "So, what are you doing here?" the guard asked her after a few minutes. He seemed genuinely interested. But Noin said nothing. Pressing the gun harder to Noin's head, the guard asked again, 

                "What are you doing here?" This time in a far more callous manner. 

                "I was breaking in." Noin's voice cracked. She cleared her throat. Impatiently, the man gesticulated with his free hand. 

                "Why?"

                "I wanted to." 

The man stopped. Roughly, he forced her to turn around so that she faced him. His face was inches in front of hers; she could smell his rancid breath; it smelled like alcohol. 

                "I'm not takin' any bullshit from you. I'm doin' you a favor by not shooting you in the first place. Now, do as I say or don't, but I am sure you understand the consequences." The man had an ugly grin on his face. His stubbly beard was beaded with sweat. Noin could see all this because he had forgotten to shine the flashlight into her eyes. 

                "Who are you here to see? Nobody comes here because they want to."

                "Fred Miner. I'm here to see Fred." 

The man shook her violently. 

                "I know all the damn prisoners in this jail, and if you play smart with me one more time, you're dead meat." He stared her in the eyes. 

                "Who are you here to see?" 

                "Zechs Merquise." Noin cast her gaze to the ground in defeat. The guard stopped dead. 

                "You know about him, huh. Very interesting indeed." 

They continued walking in silence.  The only sounds that were audible were the sounds of their footsteps and breathing. The air grew continuously mustier as they walked deeper and deeper into the fortress. After about twenty minutes, he stopped. There was a heavy, wooden door with a small, barred window, through which light was shining. There was a plate on the door that read, "HEADQUARTERS". 

The guard entered a code into a coder, and the door swung open. The lighting of the room was glaringly white; it came from multiple incandescent light bulbs hanging from the ceiling throughout the room. The air was dusty, as were the ground, the walls, the ceiling, and the furniture. There were three desks littered with papers, a telephone, pens, beer cans, and laptops. At one of these desks sat a heavy man with scraggly, long, light brown hair tied back in a low ponytail and overcast, dark eyes. His face was red, and it looked as if it were always about to explode. As they entered, he looked up. His glance was cruel. 

"Who do we have here?" His voice was high-pitched and sickening. 

"Found her breaking in, trying to find Zechs Merquise." The guard that had brought Noin here harshly thrust her forward towards the occupied desk. Though she could not see it, she still felt the gun pointed at her back. Arms raised, she stood in front of the large man who was now leaning back in his chair and examining her. After a lengthy moment of silence, he spoke. 

"What did you want from Merquise?" he asked in that voice of his that almost sounded like that of a woman. 

"I wanted to free him." Noin remained expressionless. The men, however, burst into echoing, phony laughter. 

"Oy so you wanted to save the princess. Or rather, the prince," the man at the desk remarked, snorting. Saliva dripped down his chin. 

"Tell me, why go to the trouble?"

"I am allied with him." Again, demeaning, ignorant laughter. The man at the desk took a sip from the beer can in front of him. He sighed contentedly. 

"Oh yeeees. Of course. The prince and princess are on the same side. They love each other and they are on the same side, and they rescue each other, and—" agitatedly gesticulating, the man at the desk became louder and louder, finally standing. He seemed not intimidating but pathetic, even when he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Noin. His expression was gleeful, as if he had been bored all his life and now was his moment of passion and ecstasy. He was panting. 

"Heh, heh, well, this fairy tale will not end up that way. Heh heh you're so naïve. Well, I'll teach you otherwise." Intentionally pushing his jaw forward, the fat man at the desk fixed the gun on Noin. 

"Boss. The authority's not gonna like this." The man behind Noin remarked cautiously. The man was still panting, almost jumping, his face turning redder than Noin would have thought humanly possible, slowly lowered his gun, seeing that his subordinate still was pointing his at her. Noin never donned an expression. 

"Right." The man at the desk was calming down, sitting back down at his desk. He took another gulp of beer. 

"Put her in a cell." 

"Understood." 

The man behind Noin turned her around to again face the door. He pushed her out and the door slammed shut behind them. 

"I'm Peter," he told her. "What's your name?" 

Noin did not answer. Peter insistently pushed the gun against the back of her head. 

                "Noin."

                "That your first name?" 

                "Lucrezia." Knowing that the guard could at any time search her and find her identification, she did not lie about her name. 

                "Lucrezia." Peter repeated. Then, abruptly, he stopped and faced what had appeared to be stone wall. It was hardly discernable in this lighting; there basically was none, but Peter still seemed to have no problem finding his way around. A hatch opened in the wall. Peter thrust Noin inside, following her. The heavy door slammed behind them. 

                "Now, Lucrezia, now, I can get to know you a whole lot better." 

He grabbed her by the arms and pinned her against the hard, cold, black stone wall. The gun was again pointed at her temple. 

                "Y'know, we don't get many pretty girls like you here…" 

Peter grabbed Noin's black shirt and tore it down the front. She closed her eyes, praying silently for death. Death. It was easy. She moved her leg in attempt to kick Peter. 

                "I said don't move," he snarled. She struggled harder. Her arms pushed against him, trying to force him away from her, but he was too strong. The gun was instantly between her eyes. 

Can't die yet. Noin felt blood trickle down her arm. It was red, she could imagine it, as it was too dark to see. Red, just like that day when Zechs was captured. Not finished. I'm not finished here. 

Noin went limp again. 

                "That's more like it," Peter growled. 

Then, the door behind him opened. A bright, bright beam of a flashlight caught them in a corner of a very small, cramped cell with no windows or openings whatsoever besides the door. Peter turned to see what had happened. He could not; the glare was too bright, and for the moment of negligence, he paid. Noin kicked him as hard as she could between the legs, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap, moaning. Very quickly she was handcuffed by other guards in tidy uniforms that seemed to be of a higher rank than Peter. Some of the guards picked him up and dragged him out the door, followed by the guards that held Noin. There were about seven guards in total. The four that handled her gripped her so strongly that there was no possibility of resistance. 

                "What is going on?" Noin asked in a tired voice. 

                "We're going to test you," one of the guards told her. They walked in silence for about ten minutes and then reached another heavy door, this one labeled "TESTING". The door opened and Noin was thrown inside, nobody followed, and the door was locked behind her. She was alone. Alone in a "room" of wide, open space, green, fruit trees, tables and tables of a delicious buffet, and a sweet spring breeze. 

Heero stopped. His suit fell to its knees and toppled over, tumbling down and hitting the ground. The hatch opened and Heero fell out of it, into burning light, limply dropping to the ground. Hardly breathing. Beads of cold sweat on him. The thunder became unbearably loud and drowned out the sirens of the advancing, flashing police cars. 

                Gathering the unconscious Heero in his arms, Duo disappeared into a wet side street that still existed because the buildings around it were not as heavily damaged. Thanks to Duo's inconceivable skills of dark stealth, the police found no traces of a criminal. They took fingerprints and found Heero, but his apartment was vacant when they searched. Duo's skills created a dead end for the police. Nobody realized that he ended up hiding out in a forgotten, underground hideout from the war. 

                It was dark, murky, and stuffy, and Heero lay unconscious on the moist ground, and Duo next to him. Duo had tied up the wounds that Heero had inflicted upon himself, the abrasions on the arms and cuts all over, from the violence of the mobile suit. The blood had already crusted over. Duo could not sleep; he was constantly bending over Heero's still form, not able to see much thanks to the lack of lighting. Questions over questions circulated in his mind, and he could not understand what would drive the usually stoic Heero Yuy to an action of such a grave magnitude. 

                Hee-chan… why did you do that? Why didn't you tell me? What are you hiding from me…is it my fault? What if I…what if I somehow made him this way…Guilt tightened his chest and he stretched on the ground, then turning sideways to face Heero.

                "Is it because I won't stop talking to you? Is it because I named your laptop?" he whispered. "I don't understand…" he added miserably. 

                "Didn't you always say to do what you feel?" Duo turned sideways, glancing confusedly at Heero. 

                "I didn't, did I? Is that it?" he breathed. Then turned back around and stared at the ceiling that was clouded in shadows. He inhaled deeply of the dusty, moist air. 

                "But how'd you know? How'd you know I was holding back?" 

Duo looked to the side and at the black outline of Heero's body. The Japanese boy's silence answered, 

                "Because I am the perfect soldier." 

                "That explains it all, doesn't it…" Duo's voice echoed in the small room. 

                "You can even talk to me when you aren't talking. You can do everything. Why Hee-chan, why are you so perfect? I had training, you had training. What things beside combat did those guys teach you??"

"Everything." 

Yea, Hee-chan. You're everything. And I'm nothing. So make me something!

Heero felt something. He felt his consciousness. He felt that he was breathing. He felt that there was more to him than his consciousness. He realized his physical existence. 

I am Heero. 

His eyes moved beneath his eyelids, but otherwise he remained still. 

I fight enemies.

About to open his eyes, he halted. 

Do not reveal myself. Around me. Someone's here. I hear breathing. I feel warmth. 

At that moment, Duo stirred and faced Heero. 

Don't move. 

Duo reached out his hand next to Heero and sighed. 

"Make me something."

Make me something. Make me something. Is he talking to me? He is something, He is close. He is there. 

"Why…why are you there?" Heero uttered. 

No! Do not reveal yourself. 

Duo's eyes flew open. 

                "Heero!" 

                "Why are you there?"

What are you doing?

                "I love you. Hee-chan, that's why." 

                "Why?"

                "Because you are different."

                "Different?"

                "Yea. You stand out."

                "Why?"

                "I don't know."

He is tricking me. 

Heero could hear the pounding of the rain on the wooden trap door above them. 

Knocking on the door towards tomorrow.

He is confusing me. 

Heero turned away, feeling suddenly very cold and sensing a void inside him that was creating freezing waves of pain that shot throughout his body. 

Duo stared questioningly. This time he received no answer but that Heero was in pain. 

                "Where does it hurt, Heero?" 

Heero grunted something indistinctly. 

                "What?" 

Heero was silent. Duo grew more confused. 

                "Heero?" 

Heero did not speak. He just lay still, listening, to all the voices, and to Duo. Though Duo did not speak, Heero still listened. He heard his breath become even as the American boy drifted into sleep. He also heard the sounds of him shifting positions ever so subtly from time to time. He still heard the rain. 

                Heero turned away from Duo, groaning in pain. He shut his eyes and cleared his mind. It actually seemed to be working for once; his thoughts were thinning, thinning, transparent. He even forgot his awareness. 

                For hours, Heero and Duo lay side by side asleep, neither at peace but neither tense. Then, Duo awoke. When he opened his eyes, he could see Heero's outline next to him, black and hardly visible. He moved closer to the shape, uncertainly. 

                Heero. 

Duo could feel Heero's warmth so close to him, but he was afraid to move closer to him. He had never before been hesitant of such an action, but now he was afraid to even breathe strangely. 

What could Heero be thinking? How would anything I do affect his thinking? What if I… 

Duo's thoughts trailed off. 

                I'm tired of reasoning my feelings. 

Feeling extremely uncertain, Duo put his hand on Heero's shoulder. 

                If he wakes up and kills me for this, at least I will know what would have happened if I touch him.. Wait. It will have happened. It has happened. What is going to happen? What if—

As soon as Duo had moved close to Heero, Heero's consciousness had jumped back from the delicately balanced verge on which it had hung. 

                _What is it?_

_                Duo. _

_                What is he doing?_

_                I don't know.. _

_                Unknown. Dangerous. Eliminate. _

Heero's reflex began a move to remove Duo from his shoulder. However, before the reflex reached his muscles, he stopped. There simply was no threat. He could feel Duo's hand on his shoulder, and it was not hostile but comforting. This feeling, it was almost pleasant. Maybe he~

                _What the hell am I thinking? This is not reality. I am getting caught in a fantasy. Get out. _

_                I don't want to. There's nothing better to do. _

                _You're going to get caught. It will alter you. _

_                The simple fact that you're you and not me means that we're altered. _

_                Where are you going?_

_                To another world. _

_                What are you?_

_                You. A fading reality. I will continue to search. _

Heero ignored the strange voice; it was not truly a voice. It was subtle feelings of everything around him and inside him combined that he translated into words after it reached him. 

                _Put your arms around me, put your arms around me…_

Heero silently begged Duo. 

                _Why don't I do it myself?_

The usually so independent Heero was asking, not understanding anymore, any organization and overview of himself gone forever. 

_                Because  it'll change the image that Duo has of me._

Heero still did not move. He remained almost deathly still. 

_                What's the image?_

He breathed in deeply. 

_                Stoic. Unfeeling. Strong. _

He continued breathing. 

                How do I know? 

_                It's my image of Duo's image of me. _

_                So it's not Duo's image. _

                I'm still afraid. 

Quatre was lying on his four-post bed and silk sheets in his extravagant bedroom filled with antiques reading Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Quatre was smiling to himself, gazing out the window from time to time. Everything was so peaceful! So orderly, so ordinary. The birds chirping outside was exactly the right volume not to be imposing but at the same time be audible without ear straint. The wind blowing occasionally into the room was sweetly fragrant and warm. The shadows of the moving trees made the surroundings seem very much natural and alive. Such a contrast to the dark scenes that he was reading of. However, Quatre could not help but empathize with the characters going through such harsh ordeals. 

                Just like the war we fought. We killed enemies, helped allies, and grew close in the process. He sighed. Now the war was over, the pain and excitement and sorrow and love. Well, it had been until Trowa came back. Ever since then, he had been constantly happy. Quatre smiled again, remembering his maid's strange look when she had found him dancing around the room with an invisible partner, humming tunes from another time, Beethoven and Bach. He had been in a trance, immersed in intimate fantasies about a certain clown. Only in his thoughts, he was no longer a clown, no longer there for an audience, but he was there only for himself and Quatre. 

                There was a knock on the door. 

                "Come in!" Quatre called cheerfully. The door opened and Trowa stepped inside the room and shut the door behind him softly. 

                "Hi, Quatre," he greeted his friend. Quatre lowered the book and smiled at Trowa. 

                "Trowa!" he exclaimed excitedly. 

                "My, you're awfully cheerful for reading such a gloomy book," Trowa commented, eyebrows raised and the side of his mouth turned upward slightly.   
                "But it's beautiful, Trowa! Even so long ago when this book was written, people were the same, and they felt the same, and the world fundamentally never changed! The caring that these characters show each other, it's, it's…" Quatre was becoming highly animated while he described to Trowa his feelings, and he sat up and gesticulated fervently, waving his arms around. Trowa laughed. 

                "Fascinating?" 

                "Yes! And just the fact that these characters had hope all throughout the story, and if one of them lost it, another would encourage it, it's so beautiful, Trowa!" Quatre shut his eyes and smiled once more. Trowa chuckled. 

                "I can tell you're enjoying it. We never had time to read during the war or do anything of the sort. We also didn't have time to think much about how we feel," he stated thoughtfully. 

                Quatre laid the book down and studied Trowa's expression. It was not evident, but he could detect the faintest glow in the other boy's eyes. Suddenly, Trowa reached out and placed his hand on Quatre's shoulder. Quatre drew a breath in sharply. The light was behind Trowa making it look like it was radiating from him. 

                He looks so alive!

                "Quatre, I—" 

                "Me too, Trowa!" Quatre blurted out, smiling. His face was awkwardly red. Trowa stopped and studied the blonde's face. Then he grinned. Unexpectedly, he gripped him on the upper arms tightly and dragged him close. Then he loosened the grip and brushed back Quatre's bangs. Quatre reached around and embraced his love, pulling him down on the bed. 

                "Trowa…" he whispered. 

Just then, the door flew open. 

                "Quatre, we found—" Dorothy was standing in the doorway, waving tickets of some sort around, wearing an orange dress. Now she was frozen. She slowly nodded. Trowa hastily climbed off the bed, adjusting his shirt. Quatre sat up, startled, causing Lord of the Rings to fall off the bed with a thump. They were both blushing deeply. Trowa was clearing his throat furiously. Quatre shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Dorothy had a blank expression, but then she quickly grinned. 

                "Well, well," she commented. She looked from Quatre to Trowa. "Sorry for interrupting," she uttered. Then she turned around quickly and slammed the door. Quatre sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the ground. Trowa looked out the window. 

                "We didn't do anything wrong, did we, Trowa?" Quatre asked, clearing his throat. 

                "No," Trowa answered. 

                "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" A wail broke out from downstairs that not even the most terrified OZ soldier could have rivaled. The nasal, high-pitched voice of Wario was clearly distinguishable. Quatre jumped up. 

                "Uh-ooh. Better go check on her," Quatre quickly suggested. He then hurriedly left the room, bounding down the stairs. Wario was lying face down on the carpet, banging on the floor with hands and feet. Quatre picked her up. 

                "What's wrong, honey?" he asked worriedly. 

                "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!" she continued. Quatre smelled a nasty odor from the toddler's diaper. 

                "Oh. I get it," he said as he carried Wario off to the baby room. As he changed the diaper, he could not help but think about what had just happened, no matter how hard he tried. It was what he had always wanted, wasn't it? Wasn't this what happened in every one of his fantasies? Then why did he feel so guilty? He felt as if he had wronged somebody, himself, but could not think of a reason why. 

                I guess there's a point where all reason breaks down.

Suddenly, he burst out laughing. He set the now clean-diapered child on the ground and ran to the door and out of the mansion, still cackling. He passed Rashid as he ran, and he asked, "Quatre? Are you all right?" 

                "Yeah, Rashid, love is destructive! Ahahahaahaaaa!!!" Quatre apparently found this statement so incredibly funny that he could not deal with it. He fell staggered, almost falling to the ground laughing. Dorothy appeared behind Rashid and looked at Quatre as though he were insane. 

                Even as Quatre was laughing, he felt himself growing heavier and heavier with each gasp of air. 

                I'm going so fast!

Quatre no longer understood what his brain was talking about. Everything that usually spoke to him in such empathic harmony: the trees, grass, house, people, were now sending him messages that his brain could no longer interpret. 

                What do you mean?

                Oh no! I'm—no you're you! Goodbye, me!

                I'm so fast but time is so slow and I'm so weak and I'm too heavy! 

                You are!   
                Good-by!

Quatre sank to the ground, no longer able to support himself properly. He was still laughing. It sounded hoarse now, but it still sounded as if he were in a deep state of hilarity. As he sunk into unconsciousness, he murmured among fading giggles, "Welcome home." 

When he awoke, he stared at an unfamiliar ceiling. A hospital. The door opened immediately and a woman entered the room. She looked sympathetic; she was wearing a denim skirt and a blouse, and her black hair tied back was orderly.  She wore a bright smile. 

                "Quatre Winner?" she asked in a polite but soothing voice. 

                "Yes. That is my name," Quatre stated matter-of-factly. 

                "Hi. I am Dr. Laera. How are you feeling?" 

                "My head is empty. I feel very light. I have no idea what happened," Quatre said quickly. 

                "You were laughing, and you were falling." 

                "How did you know?"  
                "Mr. Barton told me."  
                "Trowa?"

Dr. Laera stopped. She sat down on a chair and placed her hands in her lap. 

                "That's his first name? Are you his friend?" she asked. 

                "Of course!" Quatre told her. He closed his eyes. Seeing the darkness flood in as the remnants of the light's energy faded, he noticed just how blindingly bright the room was. 

                "Now, what do you remember? Do you remember how you felt, what made you feel that way?" Quatre paused for a few seconds. He remembered the incident all too clearly. 

                "Well, it was very odd. I was changing Wario's diaper and feeling really guilty—" Why was he telling her this? He hardly knew the woman! 

                "Yes?" she prompted. Quatre pressed his lips shut. But then, why not tell people? He had not done anything wrong. 

                "I'm here to help," Dr. Laera gently stated. It did not matter. He wanted to tell somebody. It had always helped to talk. 

                "—because Trowa and I had been… talking about private matters, and Dorothy came in and overheard us, but I don't know what's wrong; we certainly weren't talking about her, and…oh, maybe that's not even why I felt guilty! There was something in me the second she entered, though, and it was heavy. It sounds like everything I've ever heard about depression, but I did not feel sad. Well, when I was changing the diapers, I thought of this phrase that I had read somewhere about breaking, and I don't know how but everything I received from the outside told me that my love was like that, and then…" Quatre stopped, out of breath because he had been talking so quickly. Dr. Laera took her chance. 

                "What do you mean, everything you received from the outside?" she interjected. 

                "Well, everything that I feel or think is the result of the influences of my spirit and body and the outside combined. That's what my older sister Irea told me when I was very young, and I have found it to be true. Trowa said that I am especially empathic and sensitive to my surroundings," he told her. The doctor nodded. 

                "Go on." 

                "Then I thought that the phrase sounded so ridiculous, 'Love is destructive' or something like that; it's contrary to anything I've ever believed, yet it was so convincing then!  It just made no sense anymore after the instant when I thought of it, and somehow the heaviness inside me turned out to be funny as well. When I laughed I didn't feel the heaviness as much but more the absurdity. I ran outside and Rashid was there and Dorothy came, and I was so heavy, and somehow it felt like I was going really, really fast, only I couldn't see anything moving, you know, when you go fast you see your surroundings move fast, but I saw nothing of the sort. I just felt like I was moving so fast, falling down. And every moment took so long! It was almost like a premonition of falling just a few moments later, but it was so real then that it was what made me fall, but if what made me fall was a premonition of something that couldn't have happened without the premonition, it would be like a circle, and—" Quatre closed his eyes. As he recalled the events, they became muddled again. But Dr. Laera just nodded. Then she looked at him expectantly. 

                "Well, everything was telling me things that I didn't understand, and then they disappeared, but right before I fainted new ones came and they stayed, because I didn't think against them." He was done. As he drifted back out of consciousness, he just saw Dr. Laera writing something in a notebook. 

                When he woke again, he saw yet another unfamiliar ceiling. It looked like a cloudless, blue sky. And when he looked around, he saw trees and grass and smelled fragrant wind, and there were tables of food laid out for him, and it looked as though everything he would ever need was there. He sat up and trudged toward the table because he felt suddenly very hungry, not knowing how long he had slept. The food was delicious. 

                This time Wu fei followed her. As she took the katana and entered the woods, he hid in the trees' shadows and watched. Meilan gracefully dashed along the ground, which was littered with red, orange, yellow, and brown, dry leaves. Occasionally, she skipped a step, and it looked like a fairy's leap. Wu fei wondered how she acquired that strength. She was the only woman he had ever seen who was strong. 

                Finally, she came to a clearing in the forest. There was bright green grass and colorful, soft flowers, and sunlight streaming through the thinned leaves. At the center was a great tree, branches shooting in all the directions that he knew, multiplying and becoming thinner until they reached the end. And leaves on these ends, countless ones. They were dark green and had a silver tint. The light was beautiful. Meilan was standing in front of the tree, looking up and up into its branches, hands folded together as if in prayer. Then she turned, eyes shut, and raised the katana. She smiled in his direction. She leaped up and landed two feet to the left, and took a precise step diagonally, and leapt again. She turned deftly and swung the katana around her, in rhythm to her steps. She moved increasingly faster, her black hair following her and the sword obeying her every command. Her expression was serene, and contented. 

                Wu fei drew his sword. Meilan instantly reacted by slightly changing her beat, and moving towards him. He grinned. Then she moved back again. Wu fei charged, and his blow was easily deflected by the natural movement of Meilan's katana. His sword flew out of his hand and landed a few yards behind him. He bowed. Meilan stopped moving and bowed as well. 

                'Meilan—'            

                'No. I am Nataku.'

It was an hour before sunrise. The sky was dark and swallowed any color that would normally be perceptible. The lake was the only sound, running down the even field, falling so fast that it could not rise, and the cold kept it bound to the bed of the lake. Its trickle seemed incredibly loud, since it was the only audible sound; any remaining unknown echo was too powerful or too weak to be perceived by a mere mortal. Wu fei was lying back down on the cold, damp Earth, absolutely still but for jagged, uneven breaths, and soaked. He too was falling. 

                Find me-ind-me-ind-me-e!!  
His eyes flew open and as he adjusted to his surrounding, this remained his only movement. Then he jumped up and wildly looked about him; how had he ended up here? He remembered nothing. Only a lake. And that was right here. But he could feel clearly a gap in his memory, and it was driving him insane. Each time he thought he remembered something, or saw something reminiscent of a certain forgotten feeling or air, it escaped his mind and he was left with an empty frustration. He stood there almost motionlessly, trying so hard to visualize his forgotten memories, until the horizon revealed the first red tint on the eastern sky. He then ran along the side of the river, because he remembered everything before last night, including where Sally's house was. 

                When he arrived there, he saw a car parked in front of the house that he had never seen before. It was black and sleek, very expensive-looking. There was a bumper sticker on the back that read, 'Overcome the fantasy of the individual.' It was written on a logo like a red sun. Wu Fei raised his eyebrow.                

                What kind of onna would be so weak as to feel the need to display such feeble ideals publicly?

Then he looked into the window, cautiously. 

                Someone as weak as that may be inclined to perform an injustice. 

He saw Lady Une standing sideways facing Sally. 

                "I have succeeded in fabricating a mission," Lady Une was telling Sally. She sighed. "He's such a resourceful man. It's only because he is driven by such convincing motives. He is so passionate— it's the spirit that I have not witnessed since the end of the war."

                Sally had her hands in her pockets. She shifted her weight from her left to her right foot. 

                "You're saying that the world will die if we don't do what he says?" she asked, sounding very skeptical. Une gesticulated wildly. Strange, normally she had seemed to Wu Fei as such a composed onna. 

                "Sally, if his sister succeeds in her plan, we will be enslaved in a meaningless world of complacency, waiting for the inevitable doom that is its side effect!"

                "And there's no reasoning with her?"

                "She is obsessed with her world! She refuses to let go, almost as if she is trying very hard to overlook something. And she is so heavily guarded that nobody will ever get at her. Never. Unless we have someone like preventers giving him aid."

                "What do you plan to do?" Sally sounded more convinced  now, but still unsure of herself. 

                "Eliminate all obstacles," Une stated gravely. Sally gasped. 

                "You don't mean assas—" Une quickly shushed her. 

                "We're not alone. We're never alone. Her spies are everywhere." Urgently, she wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it to Sally. Then she hurried out of the room, ran to the black car, and drove away down the driveway.  

Relena Peacecraft paced the classroom, ruler at hand, wearing a long, pink skirt and an old-fashioned blouse, her long, light brown hair trailing behind her, bobbing with each stride. She lifted her blue eyes to gaze at the ceiling, unfazed by the glaring light that she was staring at…

                _That's the top. _

Relena was in a reverie of moral philosophy. 

                _It's where peace will be found. Once we can ascend from this hell of repetitive fighting and hatred, we will reach the ceiling. _

She smiled a genuinely affected smile. 

                "Class, let me share with you all the wonderful thing that I just thought of—"

An official dressed in an olive-green uniform and an expressionless face entered the room. 

                "Mrs. Peacecraft."

                "Yes, Stephen?" she addressed the official by name, still smiling. 

                "Uuhh…" shifting uncomfortably, hinting at surprise, he replied, "Mrs. Peacecraft—"

                "Please call me Relena," she suggested, her smile growing even brighter. 

                "Uh, Mrs., uh, Relena…ehrm." He straightened. "They've found him." He turned to leave. 

                "Heero?" she breathed, her eyebrows raised and turned up, and eyes shiny, tears being forced through them. 

                "No. Pax. Your son. He had run away." The official turned and quickly opened the door. 

                "Oh…well, send him here, please." Relena forced a smile. 

                "Yes, ma'am." He briskly paced out the door. 

                "Please call me Relena!" she called after him. 

The echoes of the footsteps of the official's feet rapidly hitting the hallway's floor were still audible. Relena turned back to her class. 

                He must have been in quite a hurry… 

                "Now, when you feel the inclination to fight, you must think of nature, close your eyes and imagine nature, the giant trees, the wind, and sunshine, and remember the peace. Then, feeling calm and renewed, rationally work out the problem that made you want to fight," Relena lectured with exaggerated expression. One of the generals sitting in the back row raised his hand. 

                "What about the other part of nature?" he asked. 

                "What other part?" Relena looked genuinely puzzled. 

                "The part where the cats eat the mice and the wolves fight their rivals for wives," he replied. Relena sighed. 

                "That is precisely the part of nature that we are trying to improve. God gave us the power to make efforts, and that is what our mission is," she told him, using Heero's word. 

                "Well, what if we are fighting for whatever the mission means that you were saying?" the general persisted. 

                "Peace can never be achieved by war!" Relena cried, lifting her hands to the ceiling. 

                "What about love? What if those wolves are fighting for a female wolf?" the general asked. 

                "Then they can make a compromise," Relena replied.   
                "What, the female wolf is shared? What if she doesn't want to be shared?" the general grew agitated. 

                "Some sacrifices need to be made. That is what this school stands for. We even have a physical section where we teach you this, I am sure you know all about. If everyone got what they wanted…" 

                "But that's what we want! What is the point if we can't try to get what we want? What if we want peace and love? Does that mean that the peace and love will only be partial and never complete? We will never fully know both at the same time? It is horrible, like that terribly confusing uncertainty principle that I heard of sometime, and it has been haunting me ever since!" the general began to show signs of tears. One of the new students in the first row gave him a strange look. 

                "Why are you _crying_?" he asked dubiously. 

                "Because all my life… _All my life! _I have been searching for fulfillment. In the war I wanted peace and love. I still want peace and love. But Teacher Relena says we can't have it!"

Relena walked to the general and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. 

                "It's all right. It is very understandable that one feel frustrated about the obstacles of nature. They just recur, over and over again! History, you know, is an endless waltz. But we can recreate this nature if we try! If we use a peaceful effort to get what we want—"

                "Well, what if our enemies don't appreciate a peaceful effort?"

                "Then we show them the wonderfulness of peace and love!"

                "How?"

                "We set an example! Remember during the war, when I was about to disarm the world? The colonies wanted peace! Earth wanted peace! We just had to eliminate the misunderstandings!"

                "White Fang did not want peace."

                "I am sure deep down they did."

                "How do you know?"

                "Because deep down we're all the same—humans! And we have hearts."

                "But what if after that we are different?"         

                "It is true that our mistakes may misguide us. That is why those of us who are right must show the ones mistaken the truth."

                "How do you know you're right?"

                "Because I'm Relena Peacecraft."

                "We need a quality preventer. These terrorists seem to be a threat. They apparently have multiple bases spread over the colonies, and we need someone to confirm this. Who is our best stealth-asset?" Lady Une asked in a business-like tone, sitting at her desk, talking to a subordinate. 

                "Well, he is not a preventer but he fought in the war. Duo Maxwell. It says here, 'Master of stealth'," he stated. 

                "Ah, can you locate him?" Une asked. The subordinate smiled. 

                "Already done."

                "Can you contact him?"

                "We certainly will try. 

                STORM.

_It was so close this time._

_What happened now?_

_The distraction._

_Can we locate it?_

_Don't be stupid._

_Then, do you have him?_

_Him?_

_Unmmm… I overheard._

_There is another problem._

_What?_

_Eartria's guardians. They are planning a new ally. They have planted the seed in him already._

_Then it is too late. We can only fight._

_And there is something else._

_Forces are coming. They are upset._

_We can only hope to fight those stronger than us if we control those weaker than us._

What's going on!!! The story's about to really start rolling… ooh this is so much FUN! Just WAIT till you know what's causing all this! MUAHAHAAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!! smiles sweetly Please review, all right? Thankees! 


	4. In the blue sky lies a blue freedomIn th...

Yui: BISHONEN TIME!!! 

C-chan, M-chan, DG: YAAAAAYYY!!!!

Bishis: AAAAAAHHH!!!

Washu: SPANDEX!!!!!!

Yui: Uuh…enough spandex for now… how about we try to keep any implications out of this one. 

C-chan: WHY?!!!??!?! 

Yui: just to see if it's possible. 

Washu: EVERYTHING is possible!!

C-chan: Yes, we know. 

D: No we don't! I bet you can't braid your hair as good as I can!!

Washu: But I can put it under a tiny hat!

C-chan: FEIFEI! WHERE YOU GOIN!! 

F: …away…

Yui: oh no you don't!! Today we're going to have a "special treat".

Q: Uh-ooh…

Yui: Everyone can ask anyone a question and must have it answered! Yay! Heero you start. 

H: Uuh… Duo, why am I different?

D: embarrassed did you have to refer to THAT scene…it's so sentimental… uumm because you have cool pants!

H: DAMMIT WHY DOES EVERYTHING COME DOWN TO MY PANTS!! 

Y: DUO! Your turn!

D: Hee-chan will you pleeease show me the secret of your pants?

Y: I SAID KEEP THE IMPLICATIONS OUT!! 

Washu: He doesn't MEAN it like that! He only wants to know the science!

Y: I'm SURE… heheeh

T: Quatre why did you go crazy? 

Q: Because the equilibrium of the soul of outer space is unbalanced. The gravitations are spinning out of control.

T: blinks oh. 

Y: This is getting too long. TO BE CONTINUED!!  
W: Awwww…

CHAPTER 4: IN THE BLUE SKY LIES A BLUE FREEDOM…IN THE WHITE CLOUDS LIES A WHITE DESIRE 

Why can I not show you my life? You do not let me! All you must do is accept me, it is a simpler act than breathing itself, and yet you fail. Why have you forgotten?

                _Pound. Pound. Footsteps on the trap door. Duo's eyes blasted open. He saw darkness; his face was pressed into Heero's shirt sleeve. He pulled away and turned sharply, his hair following. There was a beam of light. It grew as the trap door was opened farther. There were muffled voices outside. _

                "Damn, this door his heavy!"

                "Just fucking open the door!"

Duo shakingly turned and gently placed his trembling hand on the side of Heero's face.     

                "Heero… They are coming, you've got to hide! Heero!" he whispered. Heero opened his eyes. For an instant, confusion was written in them. After that, they became hard. He said,              

                "Where?"

                "Go deeper into the hideout!"

Duo followed him back into the bunker, back where the air was even more moist and humid than at first. He could hear the trapdoor being boosted open and the heavy panting of the men outside. Agitatedly, he gripped the back of Heero's shirt. 

                "Go, go on, faster!" he urged him softly whispering. Heero arrived at a stone wall and felt his way down; there was an opening in the lower part of the wall. The men were advancing. The footsteps were clearly audible. Clearer, clearer. There was not enough time to crawl deeply into the opening; Duo knew this by intuition, Heero by careful calculation. 

                "Hide, Heero, hide!" Duo urged. 

                "What about you?" His first words. They came out hoarsely. 

                "I'm right behind you!" 

Heero shook his head. Duo's face distorted into a grimace. 

                "If you don't go, dammit, we'll both be found!" 

                "Then go ahead!"

                "No, they are looking for you, not for me, therefore you should hide!"% Duo forcefully pushed Heero forward. %Although he fell, unexpectedly, he instantly turned around. Too late. Duo had bounded over to the other side of the room. The men stormed into the opening. Duo coughed. The men turned, guns pointed at him. 

                "Heero Yuy! You are under arrest!" they barked. Heero almost moved. But he realized it was too late. 

                _This is all I ever did for him. Killed him. _

He pays for my sins, and I am now the god of death.

We are interchangeable. 

The men approached Duo. Carefully, with many guns trained on him, they bound his hands and feet. Roughly, they lifted him. Duo wriggled, trying to get loose. He paid no mind to the guns. Had they wanted him dead, they would have shot him in the first place. Now one of the men ripped off the sleeve of Duo's shirt. The fury in Heero's heart was boiling. The man took out a needle and inserted it into Duo's struggling arm. Duo screamed. 

                _I'm a real man, I don't scream! _

                _What did they do to him! _

The men began dragging the still wriggling Duo outside. Right before they went out of sight, Heero saw the braided boy's shape go limp. Like a corpse. 

                _Shinigami can't die!_

Heero immediately climbed out of his hideout to follow the men. They exited the hideout with Heero tracking them expertly. He remembered enough stealth from the war. It was still raining. The sound of his footsteps was drowned out. But then the men climbed into a truck and drove away. The echo of the motor in Heero's mind was deafening. He had let them get away! Those pathetic excuses for men, these puppets, these bastards! And even worse, his own sad self who had not even been able to stop them. And that was something that could never escape from him. Not as long as he was Heero Yuy. 

                _Alaila—li! Aaaaaeiaaaannooo… Lalalalalala-aaa…_

It was a melody, played out by the rain falling onto different surfaces. Captivated, Heero stood in the middle of a deserted road, listening. 

                _Duo? _

No, Duo had just left. Where did he go again? 

                _Iiiiiiwariaaaa…jiiiiiilalalalaaaa—aaa!_

What does it mean? _I can't understand you! Are you speaking? _

_                I am the rain! _

_The rain. And who is the rain? _

_                I…I have no name. Why should you need a name? My love, my life, it is what it is, yes, no name!! What is is what is, and what is needs no substitute, its glorious glory is unsurpassed in a pure, pure state! _

Here he is! Duo, I was looking for you. Have you met her? Who, you say? Why…why…what is your name? Ah yes, Maaia it is! 

                _I speak to you, yet you, you respond as yourself. Why will you not understand me? Tree! Life! _

This makes absolutely no sense. What are these words? 

                "Who are you???!!!" Heero demanded, screamed. "What did you do to Duo?? And what the _hell_ are you talking about! Your words are incoherent!!" 

                _Silence. _

_                There is no such thing as incoherence! _Everything _is complementary!!! It is wonderful, glorious! If only I could show you, yes, introduce you to everything that you are, your unseen partners, your true, true love!!!_

Heero's heart was pounding. The rain beat upon him, rolling over his face and soaking his hair, and his hands were raised up to the sky as he shouted in vain against the thunder. 

                **"I have only one true love!" **

_True, true. You only see one part, however. And it devours you, yes, blinds you, kills you! Yet it protects you, from the other parts. You see, you small ones, you are so vulnerable! So ignorant, so sensitive, and undecided! You believe, however, you always, always believe. Your faith is the pillar of the world, for without it, it would dissolve, and without you—why, I would not be!! That would be the downfall, yes, Armageddon! You see, you are _me, and your love is me, and I love you!__

Heero dropped his arms, defeated. The world no longer made any sense to him. He was truly insane. He heard voices, heard songs of rain, saw hallucinations of omnipotency, and could not even remember his love. His love. Since when was Duo his love? Of course, he had always been. Now he was gone. It was so obvious Heero wanted to bang his head against the wall. Only there was no wall currently available. It had always been so obvious! All the moments he had felt so much in love. All the moments he wanted to throw his arms around Duo; he had ignored it all. Why? Every time he saw the American boy, the stab of emotion he felt; he had taken it for granted. 

                _And I thought Relena was stupid. She was the one stuck in her ideals, unwilling to see the truth of the world. I vowed to kill her, to rid the world of her potentially dangerous lies. _

Who had he been to determine reason? He did not even have control over himself. He did not even acknowledge the aspects of him that were supposed to shape his life. 

                She was so full of herself. 'I am the queen of pacifism, and I will bring the world peace!' 

_                'Yeah right,' I thought, 'After millions of years of life-forms battling for survival, she will break the rules of evolution.' _

Look who wanted to destroy and reform the world! 

                _At least she did not hurt anyone!_

And now he had destroyed his only link to sanity out of his maze of confusion, his only love. Heero sprinted down the road through the rain, relatively unaware of the passing surroundings. They were uninteresting anyway—trees after trees after fields of growing wheat. He was now passing through a village. It was small—it only consisted of a few huts. Nobody up at this hour. 

                I vowed to kill her. I never did. But now—now is a good time…to kill the rightful enemy. 

He passed by a house at the edge of a forest. He did not notice the black-haired boy running as well. There was a lake—Heero could hear it. He ran, accelerated—almost there—and then he jumped. The surface was dark and clear, mysterious with the agitated ripples the rain created. Beautiful, magnificent, splendid! A ray, wave of gladness and warmth entered Heero's heart, from the bottom of his consciousness, unexpectedly—the bottom of the lake? He was now falling, face-down, a smile crept to his lips, and extended through his entire body—he wanted to share it! Duo! 

                "Duo!" he shouted joyfully! The warmth, the infatuation, it fulfilled him entirely. The surface rushed at him. So dark, profound, so beautiful!   
                _Ima, hageshiku karada ni kanjiaeru…_

Closer, closer…

                _Sorezore no himeta kodou…_

SO close, so beautiful, so happy!!!!! Heero breathed deeply, he would never, never get enough of this beautiful air. 

                _Tadoritsuita jounetsu_

He remembered fighting in Wing, one thing only on his mind, making his life. Right before completing a mission, knowing it would be successful—That clarity, magnified times infinity. 

                _Dakishimeta tsubasa _

Center of infinity!  
                _Take off to the sky…_

And he felt the water, the opposite. He felt the impact, so hard and unexpected that he drew in a deep breath…of near-freezing water. No more air, no more life. Heero wanted to move his arms to swim up, but he at the same time as he touched the water he remembered, remembered his mission. 

                _Omae o korosu. _

And he willed his limbs still, face-down. 

                _Smiling, with shining eyes, Zechs advanced closer. He wore no shirt, and his muscular build sent chills of desire down Noin's spine. His perfect, platinum blonde, long hair flowed behind him like a river. He opened his arms to her, and she practically jumped him. He was so beautiful! _

_                'Lucrezia…' he murmured as he tenderly ran a hand through her hair. He began to caress her, and she lay back…_

For several days now Noin had been living in paradise. There were endless tables of food laid out buffet-style, food of every kind: fresh rolls and butter, pizza, salads, sushi, fried chicken, rice, pasta, fruits, and many, many types of drinks. At first she had satisfied herself with all the juices and water and milk that she could, but after a while, despite the beautiful lakes, forests, starlit skies, and breezes, boredom overcame her and she began to have more and more wine and beer, which were more elusive and fascinating than ever before. The feelings it awoke in her were irreplaceable here; without them, she felt no drive to live or do anything else. The fantasies she imagined during intoxication were the most excitement she could ever obtain. 

Now, she was wandering through one of the forests, feeling on her skin the soft, warm, pleasing breeze. She had found a shirt to wear shortly after she had been imprisoned. It felt soft against her skin, comfortable. Though she was very often bored, any anger than might arise from this boredom was subdued by the perfect, _perfect _surroundings. Any possible desire for more was immediately pacified by satisfaction with the beauty around her. After a while, she could hardly remember anything that she would rather be doing than be here. Whenever she began to feel a slight sadness—which was becoming less and less frequent—there was always a beer or better not far away. 

                However, as she was strolling along, she spotted a movement other than her surroundings moving about her at her control. It was a figure, strolling as leisurely as she was, towards her. 

                _Now, who might that be? _

The figure grew larger as he advanced. Finally, she could discern his features. They were oddly familiar…He had short, blonde hair and large, aquamarine eyes, and a caring face. Only now, he did not look caring; he looked drunk. Noin had never seen Quatre in this state, which added to her initial failure to recognize him. But after a moment it all came to her. 

                "Good morning, Quatre," she politely greeted him. He smiled drunkly. 

                "Evening," 

                "No. The sun just came up. It is morning," Noin stated matter-of-factly. 

                "But the sky was red," Quatre argued.

                "The sky is red in the morning and in the evening."

                "No , it can't be, because then morning and evening would be equal!"

                "No, because the sun is on opposite sides!"

                "No, it cannot be on both sides at once."

                "I mean at different times."

                "Oh." Quatre grimaced. He looked as though he were concentrating very hard. Then he shrugged and gazed at the horizon, which was obscured by the trees of the forest. 

                "This place is nice, isn't it," he remarked. 

                "Yes, quite."

They walked on in silence. 

                "I'm hungry," Quatre said after a few minutes. 

                "Take some food," Noin offered as she pointed at a table filled with delicious breakfast. 

                "OK," Quatre agreed. He took a piece of bacon and French toast. 

                "This sure looks tasty," he stated. 

                "Yes."

Then they sat in silence. Then they got up and walked some more. They got to a lake without a bridge. They both stopped. Stupefied, they stared at the flowing water. 

                "Look at the pattern that the pretty waves make," Noin pointed out. 

                "Wow, that is amazing. I wanna take some home," Quatre told her. "I just need a container…" Quatre looked around. There was a cooler standing not far away. It was green and under a tree. 

                "Sure is hard to see, with the green under the green tree with the green leaves, well, the bark is brown but the leaves are green, and so the green outdoes the brown because it's brighter." Noin remarked. Quatre walked over to it and picked it up, and came back carrying it. Then he held it in the water to let some flow in. He laboriously wrenched it back to Noin and looked into it expectantly. There were no waves in it. Quatre stared at it, then at Noin, then back at it. 

                "Why…why…where did the pretty pattern go?" The blonde Arabian began to cry agitatedly, his beautiful eyes reddened by the rubbing of his hands. 

                "I think…" Noin whispered carefully, reverently, "I think it went to heaven."

                "What do you mean, he's not here anymore? Where did you take him?!" The usually quiet Trowa worriedly demanded of the nurse. She raised her hands in defense; even though she did not know him, she found Trowa intimidating. 

                "Again, I don't know. I am not in charge here, Dr. Laera is! And she went on vacation yesterday!" Trowa leaned on the counter and bent forward so that his face was inches in front of hers. 

                "You mean to tell me that two weeks ago I brought Quatre in and you told me he would need to stay at least a month, but your psychiatrist leaves on vacation?" His eyes bored into hers. 

                "Umm, well, you see, I don't have any control! I—" 

                "I don't _care_ how much control you have or how much you are being controlled. I want to know where Quatre is."

                "I'm sorry; I cannot change facts, and the fact is that I do not know." Trowa's expression became angry. 

                "A week ago you knew perfectly what was going on when I called. Now, if you truly don't remember, I have methods to make you remember." Trowa's eyes narrowed as he glared menacingly at her. 

                "Trowa! What happened to you?" Dorothy's voice from the back of the room was surprised, almost hurt, though it never lost its arrogance. Trowa whirled around. 

                "Why are _you _here?" he demanded. 

                "Why shouldn't I be?" she challenged him. "You are here, and I have the same rights as you to him, and there's no damn thing in the world that you can do about it."

                "What?" Trowa's eyes now widened in confusion. "Rights to him?"

                "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Just because you might have brainwashed him for a while with your gay games, doesn't mean that he loves you!"

                "What are you—"

                "Give me a break. You are a gundam pilot. You should know better than to pretend. Quatre is weak; he was on the battlefield, and he is in love, and all you do is take advantage of his weakness!"

                "Quatre is not weak; he is kind. I can see why someone like you would see that as a weakness."       

                "No. Kindness alone is not weak. But kindness to the extent that it becomes a lie, that is a weakness. He is so kind that he pretended to return your love, because he cares for you, and he did not want to hurt you. He might have even been deluding himself—"

                "Dorothy, you are confusing the meaning of love. True love is always kind."

                "Always? _Always? _You are a _soldier. You spent your childhood learning about the cruelty of reality. Was your reality kind? Did you grow up in happiness, in love? What is reality, Trowa? Kindness or cruelty? What is the world like? You know, first-hand. The men that fought, many of them fought for love. My uncle fought from a love of humanity's cruelty. He was kind."_

                "What is your point?"

                "My point is that Quatre merely lied to give you kindness; he pitied you, and you took advantage of him!" 

                "On what grounds do you base this accusation?"

Dorothy was silent. She looked taken aback. Then, hesitatingly, she stated, 

                "He told me. He told me—" She turned around, unable to face him. 

                "When?" Dorothy did not turn around. There was silence for a minute. 

                "T-that night." She stuttered. "Yes. That night!" she added now, with vigor in her voice, whirling around. "Remember, when you were out on a performance? Well, just because you weren't there, Quatre and me would not just sit around. We…we had quite a bit of fun! He's so—so passionate, so _alive, that night—I felt my first time truly, truly…" Dorothy's face was flushed as she smiled again, hands clasped in front of her chest. _

                "I never believed that I could be seduced…ever since my childhood I could never imagine such a thing, but now… he was so good, so—" 

Trowa walked over to her and looked her squarely in the eyes. 

                "You have no knowledge of love."  
Dorothy broke off her passionate telling, and folded her arms in front of her. 

                "And what makes you say that?"

                "If you truly knew love, you would know that nothing Quatre does or ever might have done can alter my love for him. I trust him to do what is best." Then Trowa turned back to the nurse, who had been listening eagerly. 

                "Now, if you don't tell me where Quatre is, I will kill you." The nurse's eyes contracted. 

                "What?" she began trembling in fear. 

                _Why are you acting like Heero Yuy?_

_                You? Me? I am. I am Heero Yuy. _

_                ~No! I am Trowa Barton. NO! I am no-name, nanashi. _

_                'Names are things other people give you, so there's no use in worrying about them.'_

_                But I am acting like—_

"SECURITY!!!" Dorothy yelled out passionately. 

                _Security…_

Then, men in uniforms barged in and restrained Trowa. They carried him off to an interrogation room. At least that was what Trowa expected. The halls were dark, unperceived, unimportant…

Then they reached an interrogation room. It looked very official; there was a flag of the unified world nation, and framed pictures of high leaders of various alliances and histories. At a heavy, dark brown, wooden desk sat a security guard. He had black, short hair but long bangs, and wore a tight-fitting uniform that accentuated his excellent physical shape. On a belt he wore a blaster, in a position where it was most easily noticed.  To his right sat a woman with black hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She wore a denim skirt and a blouse. To her right sat another woman with long, blonde, curly hair and full, red lips, and at least five layers of makeup. She wore a low-cut, short dress. Surrounding them were various guards with badges and blasters. There were no windows, but there was an expensive carpet. 

                The man at the desk shifted in his chair to face Trowa. He sighed deeply and rubbed his face in his hands, and shifted again. He adjusted his chair and flipped shut a folder that was placed on the desk. Then he spoke with heavy countenance. 

                "What seems to be the problem?" He sounded as if he were about to fall asleep. 

                "He, he threatened me! He said he would kill me!" said the nurse, still recovering from a state of panic. The man at the desk raised his eyebrows. 

                "Did you?" he asked, not a bit more interested than before. 

                "No," replied Trowa solemnly. 

                "Yes, he did! He's lying!! There was a witness, a blonde lady, find her quick!" the nurse squealed. 

Damn, how could I forget about Dorothy! 

Two minutes later, Dorothy was standing in front of the desk, professing in detail just how dreadful Trowa's threat had been. Trowa himself was desperate. 

                "She's lying too! It's a conspiracy! She hates me for stealing her alleged lover, so she conspired to have me imprisoned!" he shouted. Then he looked around. His eyes widened as he saw the woman on the right of the security guard with the black hair and denim skirt. 

                "_You, she's—she's the psychiatrist! What the hell is going on here?!" Dr. Laera stood up quickly. _

                "Nothing but a misunderstanding. But for security purposes I must inform the department head of this incident. I shall return in a moment." She hurried out of a back door. During the time of her absence, everyone shifted uncomfortably, slightly, and silently in their places. Except for the man in the desk who composedly and tiredly wrote something in a notebook. Then Dr. Laera returned, followed by Relena Peacecraft. She looked very surprised to see Trowa and Dorothy. 

                "Trowa! Dorothy! What in Peace's name are you doing here?" she inquired. 

The matter was explained to her and she smiled. 

                "It is no problem. The nurse was misinformed of Dr. Laera's absence, or rather, presence. It was not her fault at all. As for Quatre Winner, he is in the process of performing a test, which is very important for determining exactly what is wrong with him. There is no problem at all!" 

Then she led Trowa and Dorothy away. Trowa left, but Dorothy remained outside the building and called out to Relena. Relena turned around and looked questioningly at her. Dorothy had tears in her eyes. 

                "What is wrong?" she asked, concerned. 

                "Everything. He stole him from me. I _loved _him, and he revolutionized my values, changed me completely, and so he was the only thing that remained to complete my happiness! I simply cannot believe that he would choose _him, _a _male, with nothing too special about him, over _me_!" she sputtered between sobs, trying desperately to keep the volume of her voice down. _

                "I understand perfectly your frustration, more than you could imagine," Relena replied, grasping Dorothy's hand. The latter looked up at her. 

                "What do you _mean_?" she asked. 

                "I had the exact same experience. But I have learned to overcome it. I even got married to someone else, whom, honestly, I do not feel even half as much for as I did for Heero," she stated in a whisper. Dorothy gasped. 

                "Our fates have intertwined once again."

                In a white, empty office, Duo was sitting on the ground, half-dozing. The drug that had made him fall asleep was wearing away quickly. The door then opened. Groggily he opened his eyes. The surprise of seeing Lady Une awoke him instantly, however. 

                "What are _you—_" he gasped. 

                "I am _terribly _sorry for this misunderstanding, Duo. Let me inform you what exactly happened. The police were looking for Heero, but they mistook you for him. Just when they identified you and were about to release you, one of our officials spotted you. The fact is, we need you immediately for help. You see, there is a terrorist on the loose that we can no longer afford to neglect. But this terrorist has so far escaped our clutches continuously, as there is immense security. Therefore, we need someone with great stealth to help us bring the terrorist to justice. Will you help us?" she pleaded. Duo was taken aback by this unexpected development. 

                "Help Preventers? Anytime, but—" as Lady Une had begun to turn around in a hurry, he halted her. 

                "Please tell me if you know what happened to Heero," he importuned her. 

                "If you help us," she offered with a wink. Duo nodded. 

                "All right. As of now, we have no knowledge of his whereabouts. But we will tell you as soon as we are able," she stated. "As for your first mission, you must infiltrate the base of the terrorist and assassinate," she told him. "It will take place tomorrow at exactly 1400 hours."

                "What exactly has he been doing?" Duo inquired. 

                "The terrorist has been developing dangerous plans of capturing individuals and performing tests on them. We believe that they have already captured a few." 

                "But I thought…I thought that all the killing was done," Duo murmured. "I don't want to kill anybody."

                "You do not comprehend the danger of this criminal. For someone accustomed to the huge casualties of war, the capturing of a few people must not seem that large, but you especially must realize the importance and value of each life," she told him. 

                "But nevertheless you are asking me to take someone's life."

                "Only for the protection of the lives of the innocent!" 

                "Why can we not get the criminal out and put him on trial?" 

                "We have not the means to do so. Even the chances for simply pulling a trigger in range are dangerously low."            

                "What if I promised that I could do it?"

                "You _can't_. We have your battle statistics. It is outside of rational probability."

                "Then I will resort to irrational probability."

Lady Une was becoming impatient. 

                "Look, unless a _miracle _happens, you cannot get her out!"

                "I believe in miracles. And I believe that we deny God's existence by resorting to assassination as an effect of fear."

                "This is not a religious matter, Mr. Maxwell. Believe me, I have prayed in desperation for the impossible, and it has not happened. It will not happen. Even if miracles happen sometimes, they are not dependable enough for these purposes."

                "I will not kill," Duo resisted stubbornly. 

                "You must face reality! The fact that Relena can't do so herself is the entire problem in the first place!" Lady Une exclaimed in frustration. 

                "What are you talking about?" Duo asked, puzzled. Une put her hand in front of her mouth. 

                "I wasn't supposed to… well, it's too late. There can't be harm in telling you. Relena Peacecraft has developed a "Peace Department" of the government. There, she teaches people her philosophy of pacifism. This is all fine, but she will simply not face the reality that life is not perfect. She has developed a testing facility where she places subjects in a scenario in which they are given everything that they could ever possibly want. This way, she argues, they will not have any more reason to fight. There is a side effect of this treatment—people exposed to her dream world lose the ability to function in reality. In effect, she is making our imperfections worse. Imagine that her means spread—the effects have been manipulated to look successful—and a large percentage of the population were exposed to it! We will lose all our creativity and die in a wretched state of complacency. The problem is, Relena has already captured a number of subjects, and nothing is being done about it. The government seems to be happy with its developments," Lady Une stated. Duo was thoughtful. 

                "We need to convince her of the wrong that she is committing."

                "Even if we could, she has gained a following—it is frightening; it is a virtual cult. If we converted her, her followers would continue her legacy. If we killed her, however, they will be awakened from their dream world and realize that the world cannot be perfect in their sense. We need an event as dramatic as that in order to reach them. I am very sorry for Relena, but the effect of what she could do is worse than her death."

                "I disagree. If she is so influential and we converted her, she would use her influence to convert her following back to reality."

                "Our intelligence states that they are far too wrapped up in their world to be talked into this—we must resort to a drastic action to catch their attention."

                "I will not kill."

Lady Une was becoming very edgy. 

                "It is imperative that you do."

                "No!"

                "Imagine if someone _you _cared about was captured by someone like her, all the emotions drained away to become a complacent machine! No more creativity, no more happiness, no more _love!"_

                "I do not believe in this. No human can take away love."

                "You have not seen the results."

                "Thus I do not believe them. You may be wrong for all I know!"

                "I am sorry to have to resort to this, Duo, but it is for the good of humanity. If you do not help us—our influence is very high, and as of now, Heero does not stand a good chance at a trial. No doubt he will be found soon unless he is dead already, and unless we intervene he very soon will be. I would be careful if I were you." 

Duo gasped and gazed at Lady Une incredulously. 

                "You—"

                "Silence. Will you help us?"

Duo looked at the ground, his heart and soul wrenched in agony. 

                "Yes."

                The dark trees raced along the perception of the Chinese boy as he continued his search for the unknown. His time was passing by, and he was insanely apprehensive of its end. 

                _It is really a futile race, against time…_

Every night he went running, searching for a reminder of where Nataku had gone after the dream, as he still could only remember its atmosphere and his feeling of falling at a loss of her. 

                _If I do not find the memory before I die, then we shall not find each other again. _

With every "passing" instant, if that even has a meaning, chances were lost, and he felt the probability of his reunion with her shrinking frightfully fast. Ever since her death, he had felt a lingering bond with her. He had felt that she was always surrounding him with her spirit, all through the war, and even a while after. More precisely, until he had dreamed of her the last time. Now, he could not remember her face. 

                _While I am alive, my conscious mind relies on my spirit. If I cannot let my mind remember, my spirit might forget its existence. _

Suddenly, a large building loomed up in the middle of the forest. 

                _Strange, this path never led here before…_

There were guards surrounding it. It looked like a prison. Carefully, Wu Fei snuck closer to it. He felt a strange urge to explore this place and understand it. Without warning, a shrill, morose cry spread through the air, powerful and loud, and desperate. There were no words. Inexplicably, Wu Fei felt drawn to it by the Earth, as a new source of gravitation. Expertly, he crept up behind the nearest guard and silently karate-chopped him. Soundlessly, he dropped to the ground. The minuscule vibration created by the impact of Wu Fei's hand was drowned out by crickets. Before another guard could see, Wu Fei raced gracefully to  the wall of the building to the place under the window from which the cry had come. He looked up at the window, which was five stories above. The wall was smooth; there was no way he could climb it. 

                _I want to fly, like…like…_

He still could not remember flying in his dream, through space with Nataku. Only the feeling. 

                _I wish I remembered how…_

Resolutely, he turned around, surveying the scene, making sure that there were no guards nearby, as he was unarmed. Then he snuck to the corner of the building. Instinctively he peered around the corner, making sure he was not seen. He took all the measures of stealth that had been trained into him, but his mind was not on avoiding the guards. 

                _It is so injustly close! I know it, I know it, but I do not remember the steps! _

The second side of the building had foud guards facing in different directions. The closest one of them surveyed left and right around the building. Now he was looking to his right, and Wu Fei was on the left. He guessed that he would turn around when he reached the other end of the side. When he estimated that this would happen, he drew back. He would wait until he came close enough and turned around, a perfect position for a karate chop. The other guards were far enough away not to notice for a few seconds. After executing this flawless maneuver, he looked at the other guards. The closest one was looking into the forest, and occasionally at the building.  Same story. The third guard was first staring at the ground, then at the sky. 

                _Weakling. _

However, the fourth guard, who had had his eyes shut and was not paying attention to anything but the private world inside his mind. Now, he opened his eyes and saw his comrades dead on the ground. Fearfully, he looked around at the empty-seeming clearing. The comfort of mastery in his head was gone. Then he felt a sharp pain and lost his consciousness. 

                Having mastered the second side, which was where a back entrance was located, Wu Fei broke into the prison. He picked the lock (it was old-fashioned) and began sneaking through the halls. He almost did not notice the guards that he killed. 

                _It is somewhere…somewhere everywhere…I need to reach out_! __

When he reached the floor where he estimated the room to be, he karate-chopped all the guards and stood in front of the door that concealed his mystery. He kicked the door, and it rotated, and then fell with a thud onto the bare ground. Zechs Merquise snapped up out of a trance and stared at the intruder. As recognition came, his eyes widened in amazement, and he felt a surge of energy that chilled him to the bone. 

                "Chang Wu Fei."

Wu Fei stared at him, surprised but then realizing that he had apprehended him. 

                "Why did I come here?"  
Zechs laughed dryly. He was silent then. 

                "You need my help?"

                "I never thought…"

                "Ah."

                "Lady Une convinced Sally to a plan to assassinate Relena."

                "…my sister. She's the reason I'm here." The moon reflected in his eyes, lending them a delirious, shining blue. 

                "What?"

                "I had found strange patterns…and I knew that…" then he gasped. "You…you're…" And he fell silent, gazing intently at Wu Fei, eyes slowly widening in realization that Wu Fei had yet to understand. The latter questioningly stared back at the enigmatic man who stood before him.

                "You truly don't know what you are?" Zechs asked, wary. His eyes contracted. 

                "I am Chang Wu Fei of the Long clan." Zechs again looked at him, sized him up, knowing his potential strength. 

                "You must not hide behind names." Wu Fei was silent, feeling his ignorance, but for once it did not make him feel inferior. 

                "I _cannot _know what I am."

                "Why not?"

                "Because if I were that conscious I would instantly have entered a higher level of consciousness that I am not conscious of. This could continue to eternity." Zechs's countenance instantly reflected understanding.

                "Unreachable limitation…" Wu Fei muttered. Then his eyes widened in amazement and the moon reflected in him. "I understand now why I cannot remember her. My dreams have become a limitation. I am losing my time," his voice was loaded with the tension of his spacetime. 

                "Then you are not gaining, but _losing _consciousness," Zechs said. Wu Fei looked up from his cognitive reverie. 

                "Must I gain it or lose it to remember her?"

                "You must always gain it. You decide how much you can take."

                "I want all of it~!" 

                "It comes with the price of the loss of more basic levels of the self."

                "I am not afraid."

                "You could lose your love."

                "Never."

Wu Fei stared out the window, feeling confined by the world and its limits. All he wanted was the way out, beyond left, right , up down, back, forwards, before, after. All these directions led either away from Nataku or to the loss of innovation. No place in space contained her, and she lay not in the future of life, and his past was already gone, played out. In this particular place, it was gone. 

                "I will give you a consciousness," Zechs offered. Wu Fei waited. 

                "You have a gravity, and it is ever-growing with the loss of your consciousness."

FLASH. NO! DO NOT TELL HIM! 

Zechs felt an instant chill. 

                "What?" Wu Fei asked, perplexed. 

                "I'm sorry I…cannot…tell you. Only I may be conscious."

                "Of _what_?!"

                Of the patterns."  

                "Why?"

I must undo this blunder. I will ruin his happiness! 

Zechs felt the truth of his thought. He felt his genuine wish for Wu Fei's happiness. 

~what?

Why do I wish his happiness? 

He is beautiful.

Zechs stared at the Chinese boy who now covered the window in confrontation. He felt his attraction. It was unlike anything he had ever perceived. It was unlike the infatuation and love he had for Noin, and yet it was a feeling that could compare to that magnitude. 

                "It would deny you of your own challenge. It can ruin your happiness."

Wu Fei accepted this answer. He saw its truth. 

_It _is _my challenge. _

                "You must help me defeat Lady Une. We cannot allow your sister's assassination."

Warily, Zechs answered, "Why not? She put me in here."

                "She holds together this fragile peace."

                "She confines soldiers."

                "Soldiers must only accept the world around them." Wu Fei remembered Heero's words all too well. He still felt ashamed at his siding with Dekim. He vowed never again to fight for soldiers, as it was the soldiers themselves that fought. Fighting those who fight because they do not fight in the name of peace is a contradiction.

                "Why do you ask me?" Zechs inquired.

                "You are one of the only strong ones remaining."

Zechs knew he was bluffing. He could not slay a Peacecraft. He could not abandon his heritage once again.

                "Very well. First, however, we must escape."

                "Then we will find out what we need from Sally; Lady Une has already talked to her."

                "Understood."

The two of them sprinted out the door and out of the building, into the dark forest. There was a storm that raged as had not raged for a long time in their memories. Wu Fei felt a pang of nostalgia. 

Almost, almost, and yet infinities away.

All of a sudden, Zechs pointed silently to a creek. The Thunder screamed louder. There was a body face-down on the surface. Wu Fei recognized his saviour and instinctively dove into the water to retrieve his body. He was breathing faintly. 

                "Heero Yuy," Wu Fei muttered. 

Again, he had evaded death. 

EARTH 

_We temporarily immobilized their weapon._

_Good. How is the hook?_

_We made him faster. He is gathering allies._

_See that he can soon gain the girl's gravity and join her._

_The chances are unknown._

_Change them._

_Yes._

I love Feifei!! I think he's the funnest to write about. Just because he's so confused!! And he doesn't know how much impact he has… MUAHAHAHAAA!!

Washu: What's with all the gravitation?

Yui: Hehehee wouldn't you want to know!! You'll just have to wait till I get over my writers block!! 

Washu: NOOOOO!!!! 

Yui: If you can inspire me to write, I'll tell you!

Washu: OK! Goes into 5 hr lecture on relativity.

Yui: YAY! OK. whispers to Washu

Washu: WOW COOL!!!  
Yui: Now if you all wanna know whats goin on, well… you'll just have to wait ^__~ sorry! 

Anyway, whatcha think? If you have predictions tell! Because I really wonder what all this makes people think. And does it make sense? I will update soon, but currently I'm having trouble continuing to write… writer's block is SO inconvenient… 


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